Two-dimensional silicon and carbon monochalcogenides with the structure of phosphorene

Phosphorene has recently attracted significant interest for applications in electronics and optoelectronics. Inspired by this material an ab initio study was carried out on new two-dimensional binary materials with a structure analogous to phosphorene. Specifically, carbon and silicon monochalcogenides have been considered. After structural optimization, a series of binary compounds were found to be dynamically stable in a phosphorene-like geometry: CS, CSe, CTe, SiO, SiS, SiSe, and SiTe. The electronic properties of these monolayers were determined using density functional theory. By using accurate hybrid functionals it was found that these materials are semiconductors and span a broad range of bandgap values and types. Similarly to phosphorene, the computed effective masses point to a strong in-plane anisotropy of carrier mobilities. The variety of electronic properties carried by these compounds have the potential to broaden the technological applicability of two-dimensional materials.