  This concise book offers an essential introduction and reference guide for
the many newcomers to the field of physics of elemental 2D materials. Silicene
and related materials are currently among the most actively studied materials,
especially following the first experimental synthesis on substrates in 2012.
Accordingly, this primer introduces and reviews the most crucial developments
regarding silicene from both theoretical and experimental perspectives. At the
same time the reader is guided through the extensive body of relevant
foundational literature. The text starts with a brief history of silicene,
followed by a comparison of the bonding nature in silicon versus carbon atoms.
Here, a simple but robust framework is established to help the reader follow
the concepts presented throughout the book. The book then presents the atomic
and electronic structure of free-standing silicene, followed by an account of
the experimental realization of silicene on substrates. This topic is
subsequently developed further to discuss various reconstructions that silicene
acquires due to interactions with the substrate and how such effects are
mirrored in the electronic properties. Next the book examines the dumbbell
structure that is the key to understanding the growth mechanism and atomic
structure of multilayer silicene. Last but not least, it addresses similar
effects in other elemental 2D materials from group IV (germanene, stanane),
group V (phosphorene) and group III (borophene), as well as transition metal
dichalcogenides and other compositions, so as to provide a general comparative
overview of their electronic properties.
