Dear Colleagues,

Since the first demonstration of the unique properties of the thinnest possible material in nature, graphene, in 2004, it has attracted enormous researcher interest from all over the world. The reason for this is graphene’s fascinating electronic, optical and mechanical properties, such as its high mobility of charge carriers, high transparency of graphene in combination with its electrical conductivity, the possibility of having electrical control of its optical properties in the particularly interesting THz-to-FIR spectral range, strong optical nonlinearities, extraordinary elastic properties and high mechanical robustness (compared to other materials of the same thickness). These and other properties of graphene opened the door to a series of already existing and potential practical applications, such as power grids, photodetectors, sensors, light sources, anticorrosion coatings, conducting paper, etc. The whole area of THz plasmonics rose up thanks to graphene.

The graphene boom had other significant consequences. First, it spurred the search of other two-dimensional materials, having already yielded transition metal dichalcogenides, TMDs (2D semiconductors), boron nitride, h-BN (a 2D insulator), as well as a number of 2D magnetic materials, e.g., Xenes, etc. In particular, TMDs support extremely robust excitons and are characterised by their strong spin–valley correlation, while optical phonons in the h-BN are hyperbolic (with different signs of group velocity in different directions). These unusual properties promise novel and interesting applications in physics and other important areas. Secondly, the honeycomb crystal structure, characteristic of graphene and TMDs, responsible for some of their unique properties, inspired researchers to mimic it in other systems, such as cold atoms and photonic crystals.

This Special Issue aims to gather original research articles and review papers describing experimental and theoretical results concerning research in the area of graphene and other 2D materials. It is open to contributions covering fundamental research, material properties and applications, including 2D material-based photonic, (opto-)electronic, sensing and mechanical devices.

Prof. Dr. Mikhail I. Vasilevskiy
Prof. Dr. Yuliy V. Bludov
Dr. Tetiana Slipchenko
Guest Editors

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• graphene
• two-dimensional materials
• plasmonics
• excitons
• phonons
• polaritons
• spintronics
• valleytronics
• nonlinear optical properties
• plasmonic cavities
• molecular sensors
• photodetectors
• absorbers
• single-photon emitters