Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 14, 2026

Probe Type II Band Alignment in One-Dimensional Van Der Waals Heterostructures Using First-Principles Calculations
Published on: October 12, 2019
An electric field tunable energy band gap at silicene/(0001) ZnS interfaces
M Houssa1, B van den Broek, E Scalise
1Semiconductor Physics Laboratory, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Leuven, Celestijnenlaan 200 D, B-3001 Leuven, Belgium. michel.houssa@fys.kuleuven.be
Abstract:
The interaction of silicene, the silicon counterpart of graphene, with (0001) ZnS surfaces is investigated theoretically, using first-principles simulations. The charge transfer occurring at the silicene/(0001) ZnS interface leads to the opening of an indirect energy band gap of about 0.7 eV in silicene. Remarkably, the nature (indirect or direct) and magnitude of the energy band gap of silicene can be controlled by an external electric field: the energy gap is predicted to become direct for electric fields larger than about 0.5 V Å(-1), and the direct energy gap decreases approximately linearly with the applied electric field. The predicted electric field tunable energy band gap of the silicene/(0001) ZnS interface is very promising for its potential use in nanoelectronic devices.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Energy Bands in Solids
Band Formation:
When atoms are brought close together, as in a solid, these discrete energy levels begin to split due to the overlap of electron orbitals from adjacent atoms. This split occurs because of the Pauli exclusion principle, which states that no two...
Semiconductors
Metals such as copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), or lead (Pb) have low resistivity and feature conduction bands that are either not fully occupied or overlap with the valence band, making a bandgap non-existent. This allows electrons in the highest energy levels of the valence band to easily transition to the conduction band upon gaining...
Fermi Level Dynamics
Electron affinity in semiconductors refers to the energy gap between the minimum of its conduction band and the vacuum level and it is a critical parameter in determining how easily a semiconductor can accept additional electrons.
The work...
Fermi Level
At absolute zero temperature, electrons fill all energy states up to the Fermi level, leaving upper states empty. As the temperature rises,...
Types of Semiconductors
Band Theory
The energy difference between these bands is known as the band gap.
Conductor, Semiconductor,...

