Silicene: a new 2-dimension Dirac electron system

Silicene, a single layer of thin film consisting of silicon atoms with honeycomb structures similar to graphene, has been attracting much attention because of its extraordinary physical properties, in particular its Dirac fermion characteristics.We shall review the recent progress in experimental research on silicene, including its successful epitaxial growth on surfaces, characterization of its structure, determination of the existence of Dirac fermions, and observation of possible superconductivity.