| Abstract Scope |
The development of integrated silicon photonics has gained considerable momentum over the past decades, driven largely by its vital applications in biochemical sensing, medicine, and even astronomy communications. However, due to the intrinsic bandgap limitations of bulk silicon, most research efforts have focused on applications within the near mid-infrared (MIR) spectral range. Very recently, our group reported that 2D bilayer silicon (BLSi) holds strong potential for extending photonic absorption into the far MIR region.
This work reviews the recent advancement in 2D silicenen films, including the structural stability, energy bandgap engineering strategies, and their associate electrical and optical properties. By manipulating in-plane strain, both direct and in-direct bandgap openings can be achieved, significantly enhancing photonic absorption in the far-MIR range. To accommodate the required strain in the 2D silicenen films, we propose a novel dative expitaxy, whose feasibility has been theoretically validated through density function theory (DFT) simulations |