# The graphene family of 2D materials

> Graphene is one of many crystals a few atoms thick. Hexagonal boron nitride is a flat insulator, monolayer MoS₂ a direct-gap semiconductor, phosphorene a p-type semiconductor with a puckered, anisotropic lattice, borophene a 2D metal and CrI₃ a magnet, and all of them can be stacked layer by layer into van der Waals heterostructures.

- Page: https://www.labcanvas.com/templates/graphene-research/graphene-family-2d-materials
- Open in the LabCanvas editor (LabCanvas account): https://www.labcanvas.com/editor.html?template=graphene-2d-materials-family
- Updated: 2026-10-14
- Category: Graphene research
- Method: 2D materials
- Product: An atlas of 2D crystals and how they stack
- Key result: Crystals built atom by atom by LabCanvas from their lattices; properties quoted from the papers’ abstracts
- Figure: 1920 × 1080 px, 37 editable layers (6 generated objects with settings)

## Steps

1. **Graphene**: A two-dimensional semimetal with a tiny overlap between valence and conduction bands and a strong ambipolar field effect (Novoselov et al. 2004)
2. **hBN**: Atomically smooth and relatively free of dangling bonds and charge traps, with a lattice constant similar to graphite’s and a large band gap; graphene on hBN is almost an order of magnitude better in mobility and carrier uniformity than on SiO₂ (Dean et al. 2010)
3. **MoS₂**: Thinned to one layer, the indirect gap rises by more than 0.6 eV and MoS₂ becomes a direct-gap semiconductor that emits light strongly (Mak et al. 2010); single-layer transistors with its 1.8 eV gap reached at least 200 cm²/V·s and on/off ratios of 10⁸ (Radisavljevic et al. 2011)
4. **Phosphorene**: A p-type semiconductor with a direct gap larger than bulk black phosphorus’s 0.31–0.36 eV; few-layer transistors showed hole mobilities of 286 cm²/V·s and on/off ratios up to 10⁴ (Liu et al. 2014)
5. **Silicene and borophene**: Both grown on silver: silicene, a buckled honeycomb predicted to carry Dirac-like electrons, on Ag(111) (Vogt et al. 2012); borophene, a highly anisotropic 2D metal, on silver under ultrahigh vacuum (Mannix et al. 2015)
6. **CrI₃**: A monolayer Ising ferromagnet with spins out of the plane and a Curie temperature of 45 K, against 61 K in the bulk crystal (Huang et al. 2017)
7. **Stacks**: Isolated atomic planes can be reassembled layer by layer in a chosen sequence into van der Waals heterostructures (Geim & Grigorieva 2013)

## Strengths

- From insulators to metals and magnets in one family
- Layers can be restacked in a chosen sequence (Geim & Grigorieva 2013)

## Limitations

- Silicene and borophene are grown, and studied, on silver
- Properties change with the number of layers (MoS₂, CrI₃)

## Uses

- Transistors and optoelectronics
- Clean substrates and encapsulation (hBN)
- 2D magnets and spintronics
- van der Waals heterostructure devices

## References

1. Geim & Grigorieva, “Van der Waals heterostructures”, Nature 2013. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature12385 (review)
2. Dean et al., “Boron nitride substrates for high-quality graphene electronics”, Nat. Nanotechnol. 2010. https://doi.org/10.1038/nnano.2010.172 (primary)
3. Mak et al., “Atomically thin MoS2: a new direct-gap semiconductor”, Phys. Rev. Lett. 2010. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.105.136805 (primary)
4. Radisavljevic et al., “Single-layer MoS2 transistors”, Nat. Nanotechnol. 2011. https://doi.org/10.1038/nnano.2010.279 (primary)
5. Liu et al., “Phosphorene: an unexplored 2D semiconductor with a high hole mobility”, ACS Nano 2014. https://doi.org/10.1021/nn501226z (primary)
6. Huang et al., “Layer-dependent ferromagnetism in a van der Waals crystal down to the monolayer limit”, Nature 2017. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature22391 (primary)
7. Novoselov et al., “Electric field effect in atomically thin carbon films”, Science 2004. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1102896 (further reading)
8. Vogt et al., “Silicene: compelling experimental evidence for graphenelike two-dimensional silicon”, Phys. Rev. Lett. 2012. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.108.155501 (further reading)
9. Mannix et al., “Synthesis of borophenes: anisotropic, two-dimensional boron polymorphs”, Science 2015. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aad1080 (further reading)
10. Cahangirov et al., “Two- and one-dimensional honeycomb structures of silicon and germanium”, Phys. Rev. Lett. 2009. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.102.236804 (further reading)

Credit: After Geim & Grigorieva, Nature 2013 (doi:10.1038/nature12385), Dean et al. 2010, Mak et al. 2010, Radisavljevic et al. 2011, Liu et al. 2014, Vogt et al. 2012, Mannix et al. 2015 and Huang et al. 2017. Crystals built by LabCanvas.

## Questions

**What does the “The graphene family of 2D materials” template show?** Graphene is one of many crystals a few atoms thick. Hexagonal boron nitride is a flat insulator, monolayer MoS₂ a direct-gap semiconductor, phosphorene a p-type semiconductor with a puckered, anisotropic lattice, borophene a 2D metal and CrI₃ a magnet, and all of them can be stacked layer by layer into van der Waals heterostructures.

**What are the steps shown in “The graphene family of 2D materials”?** 1. Graphene: A two-dimensional semimetal with a tiny overlap between valence and conduction bands and a strong ambipolar field effect (Novoselov et al. 2004). 2. hBN: Atomically smooth and relatively free of dangling bonds and charge traps, with a lattice constant similar to graphite’s and a large band gap; graphene on hBN is almost an order of magnitude better in mobility and carrier uniformity than on SiO₂ (Dean et al. 2010). 3. MoS₂: Thinned to one layer, the indirect gap rises by more than 0.6 eV and MoS₂ becomes a direct-gap semiconductor that emits light strongly (Mak et al. 2010); single-layer transistors with its 1.8 eV gap reached at least 200 cm²/V·s and on/off ratios of 10⁸ (Radisavljevic et al. 2011). 4. Phosphorene: A p-type semiconductor with a direct gap larger than bulk black phosphorus’s 0.31–0.36 eV; few-layer transistors showed hole mobilities of 286 cm²/V·s and on/off ratios up to 10⁴ (Liu et al. 2014). 5. Silicene and borophene: Both grown on silver: silicene, a buckled honeycomb predicted to carry Dirac-like electrons, on Ag(111) (Vogt et al. 2012); borophene, a highly anisotropic 2D metal, on silver under ultrahigh vacuum (Mannix et al. 2015). 6. CrI₃: A monolayer Ising ferromagnet with spins out of the plane and a Curie temperature of 45 K, against 61 K in the bulk crystal (Huang et al. 2017). 7. Stacks: Isolated atomic planes can be reassembled layer by layer in a chosen sequence into van der Waals heterostructures (Geim & Grigorieva 2013).

**Which papers is “The graphene family of 2D materials” based on?** Geim & Grigorieva, “Van der Waals heterostructures”, Nature 2013 (doi:10.1038/nature12385); Dean et al., “Boron nitride substrates for high-quality graphene electronics”, Nat. Nanotechnol. 2010 (doi:10.1038/nnano.2010.172); Mak et al., “Atomically thin MoS2: a new direct-gap semiconductor”, Phys. Rev. Lett. 2010 (doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.105.136805); Radisavljevic et al., “Single-layer MoS2 transistors”, Nat. Nanotechnol. 2011 (doi:10.1038/nnano.2010.279); Liu et al., “Phosphorene: an unexplored 2D semiconductor with a high hole mobility”, ACS Nano 2014 (doi:10.1021/nn501226z); Huang et al., “Layer-dependent ferromagnetism in a van der Waals crystal down to the monolayer limit”, Nature 2017 (doi:10.1038/nature22391); Novoselov et al., “Electric field effect in atomically thin carbon films”, Science 2004 (doi:10.1126/science.1102896); Vogt et al., “Silicene: compelling experimental evidence for graphenelike two-dimensional silicon”, Phys. Rev. Lett. 2012 (doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.108.155501); Mannix et al., “Synthesis of borophenes: anisotropic, two-dimensional boron polymorphs”, Science 2015 (doi:10.1126/science.aad1080); Cahangirov et al., “Two- and one-dimensional honeycomb structures of silicon and germanium”, Phys. Rev. Lett. 2009 (doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.102.236804).

**Can I edit the “The graphene family of 2D materials” template?** Yes. Open it in the LabCanvas editor: all 37 layers are editable, including 6 generated objects (structures, plots, equipment) with their own settings. Change the text, colours and layout, then export PNG, TIFF, SVG or PDF.

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