Sumanene Monolayer of Pure Carbon: A Two‐Dimensional Kagome‐Analogy Lattice with Desirable Band Gap, Ultrahigh Carrier Mobility, and Strong Exciton Binding Energy

The design and synthesis of novel two-dimensional (2D) materials that possess robust structural stability and unusual physical properties may open up enormous opportunities for device and engineering applications. Herein, a 2D sumanene lattice that can be regarded as a derivative of the conventional Kagome lattice is proposed. The tight-binding analysis demonstrates sumanene lattice contains two sets of Dirac cones and two sets of flat bands near the Fermi surface, distinctively different from the Kagome lattice. Using first-principles calculations, two possible routines for the realization of stable 2D sumanene monolayers (named α phase and β phase) are theoretically suggested, and an α-sumanene monolayer can be experimentally synthesized with chemical vapor deposition using C21 H12 as a precursor. Small binding energies on Au(111) surface (e.g., -37.86 eV Å-2 for α phase) signify the possibility of their peel-off after growing on the noble metal substrate. Importantly, the GW plus Bethe-Salpeter equation calculations demonstrate both monolayers have moderate band gaps (1.94 eV for α) and ultrahigh carrier mobilities (3.4 × 104 cm2 V-1 s-1 for α). In particular, the α-sumanene monolayer possesses a strong exciton binding energy of 0.73 eV, suggesting potential applications in optics.