PART 1: Two-Dimensional Electron System
Two-dimensional electron systems occur in the low dimensional systems. Low dimensional are those with less than three-dimensional spatial components (Ferrari et al., 2015). Low dimension systems allow the study of electrons. An electron system in two dimensions is that in which particle movement is confined by various means to a single plane for instance in transistors. Materials that come in two dimension layers have properties that are exotic or electronic in nature.The properties of these materials include energy storage and catalysis.
PART 2: Stanene and Graphene
Experiments have led to an optical transition in two-dimensional materials called stanene. Stanene is a topological insulator, belonging to the class of materials that conduct electrons on their surfaces (Saxena, Choudhary & Shukla 2015). Compared to graphene, stanene has a strong spin-orbit coupling making it promising for applications at temperature of 25 degrees centigrade. Stanene results from changing of carbon atoms in graphene through the addition of tin. Stanene was discovered by researchers at the energy department in the US and Stanford University. Its name originates from the Latin word Stannum, and the suffix of graphene.
Stanene is better compared to graphene. The tin atom layer in stanene can act as an electrical conductor. The electrical conduction would be 100 percent effective at the operational temperature of computer chips (Zhang et al., 2009). Stanene is a single-layer material whose electrical properties can be applied in various ways. Moreover, implementation could see an increase in speed and lower the need for operational power for future computer chips. However, these predictive inferences require confirmation through experiments. Topological insulators make electrons move in lanes designed without any limit on speed. No resistance is offered to electrons when they travel as long as the edge or surface is free. Experiments conducted have determined that mercury telluride and combinations of bismuth and tellurium are topological insulators. However, none of these offers perfect conductivity at room temperature. Consequently, their commercial applications are limited. Considerations for the single-layer properties of pure tin were made. Calculations then did indicate that at above 25 degrees a layer of tin would be a topology insulator. Combining the atoms of fluorine with tin would increase its performance above 100 degrees.
The stanene-fluorine combination could be applied in assembling the components of the processor. Stanene wiring would reduce power consumption and the production of heat in the processor system. Ultimately, stanene can be used in elements of the circuit in which case it can replace silicon transistors (Balendhran, 2015). A revamp in the computing field would take place by replacing the wires of copper used in computer chips today. Copper wires have limitation. Copper wires overheat when too much electricity passes through them. The results of such could lead to the damaging of machines and loss of data. The idea of stanene replacing graphene is a possibility but has not yet been fully established. Chips from stanene could perform faster without the risk of overheating.The challenge in manufacturing would, however, be in trying to facilitate only a one layer of tin being left on the chip. Moreover, maintaining the single layer at the high temperatures is also a challenge.
References
Balendhran, S., Walia, S., Nili, H., Sriram, S., &Bhaskaran, M. (2015). Elemental analogues of graphene: Silicene, germanene, stanene, and phosphorene. small, 11(6), 640-652.
Ferrari, A. C., Bonaccorso, F., Fal’Ko, V., Novoselov, K. S., Roche, S., Bøggild, P., …& Van Wees, B. J. (2015). Science and technology roadmap for graphene, related two-dimensional crystals, and hybrid systems.Nanoscale, 7(11), 4598-4810.
Juliet, A. M., Dey, P., &Preshiya, D. J. (2015).Stanene/MnO 2 based micro-super capacitors a composite material for energy storage. Journal of Chemical & Pharmaceutical Research, 7(2).
Saxena, S., Choudhary, R. P., &Shukla, S. (2015). Stanene: Atomically Thick Free-standing Layer of 2D Hexagonal Tin. arXiv preprint arXiv:1505.05062.
Zhang, Y., Feng, H., Wu, X., Wang, L., Zhang, A., Xia, T., …& Zhang, L. (2009). Progress of electrochemical capacitor electrode materials: A review. International journal of hydrogen energy, 34(11), 4889-4899.
