Graphene and two-dimensional layered materials for device applications

Carbon-based nanostructures have been the center of intense research and development for more than two decades now. Of these materials, graphene, a two-dimensional (2D) layered material system, has had a significant impact on science and technology in recent years after it was experimentally isolated in single layers in 2004. The recent emergence of other classes of two-dimensional (2D) layered systems beyond graphene has added yet more exciting and new dimensions for research and exploration given the diverse properties of these beyond graphene 2D systems. For example, hexagonal-BN a layered material closest in structure to graphene, is an insulator, while NbSe, a transition metal di-chalcogenide, is metallic and monolayers of other transition metal di-chalcogenides such as MoS₂ are direct band-gap semiconductors. The rich spectrum of properties that 2D layered material systems offer can potentially be engineered on-demand, and creates exciting prospects for using such systems in applications ranging from electronics, sensing, photonics, energy harvesting and flexible electronics in the coming years.