Two-dimensional modelling of uniformly doped silicene with aluminium and its electronic properties

Abstract

Silicene is a two-dimensional (2D) derivative of silicon (Si) arrangsd in honeycomb lattice. It is predicted to be compatible with the present fabrication technology. However, its gapless properties (neglecting the spin-orbiting effect) hinders its application as digital switching devices. Thus, a suitable band gap engineering technique is required. In the present work, the band structure and density of states of uniformly doped silicene are obtained using the nearest neighbour tight-binding (NNTB) model. The results show that uniform substitutional doping using aluminium (Al) has successfully induced band gap in silicene. The band structures of the presented model are in good agreement with published results in terms of the valence band and conduction band. The band gap values extracted from the presented models are 0.39 eV and 0.78 eV for uniformly doped silicene with Al at the doping concentration of 12.5% and 25% respectively. The results show that the engineered band gap values are within the range for electronic switching applications. The conclusions of this study envisage that the uniformly doped silicene with Al can be further explored and applied in the future nanoelectronic devices.