Stanene: State of the Art and Future Prospects

Two-dimensional materials have benefited scientists and technologists in many ways over the past two decades. Stanene is one of the most recent members of the 2D family, with a stronger spin-orbit coupling than graphene, which has led to predictions of several interesting properties. However, in spite of extensive theoretical investigations over the past few years, experimental realization has been limited to growth by either the molecular beam epitaxy or liquid-phase exfoliation using laser ablation. On the application front, capabilities related to Li-ion batteries and gas sensors have been modeled using first-principles DFT calculations. In this short review, we present the current state of the art in terms of both experimental and theoretical efforts related to stanene and possible future directions.