Electronic Structure and the Properties of Phosphorene and Few-Layer Black Phosphorus

A single atomic layer of black phosphorus, phosphorene, was experimentally realized in 2014. It has a puckered honeycomb lattice structure and a semiconducting electronic structure. In the first part of this paper, we use a simple LCAO model, and qualitatively discuss the electronic structure of phosphorene systems under electric and magnetic fields, especially noting their midgap edge states. The next part is devoted to the review of the progress in research on phosphorene over the past one year since its realization in 2014. Phosphorene has been a typical material to study the semiconductor physics in atomic layers.