Elements can take different crystalline forms - allotropes, depending on their location
Interest in hexagonal silicon dates back to the 1960s due to the possibility of tunable electronic properties that could improve performance beyond the cubic shape.
In 2014, a team from the Carnegie Institutiondeveloped a new silicon allotrope - Si₂₄, which consisted of sheets of silicon arranged in rings of five, six and eight atoms. The breaks in the middle of the rings can form one-dimensional channels for the movement of other atoms. This is useful for storing or filtering energy, scientists say.
In a new study, scientists have developed a methodtransformation of Si₂₄ into another allotrope. Heating the Si₂₄ crystals caused the thin sheets to line up in a hexagonal shape on four repeating layers. By the way, this is why the new structure was named 4H-silicon. It is noted that uncharacteristic stable bulk crystals from such a material were created for the first time.
How exactly should the new silicon structure be applied? Scientists are confident that the discovery will lead to improvements in the operation of transistors or photovoltaic energy systems.
The study was published in the journalPhysical Review Letters.
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