Recent advances in investigations of the electronic and optoelectronic properties of group III, IV, and V selenide based binary layered compounds

This review article presents a comprehensive update on the recent research trends, advancement and future outlook of selected layered selenide based binary compounds featuring elements from group III, IV, and V of the periodic table. Due to their highly anisotropic structure as well as their availability in mono, few- and multi-layer form, these compounds constitute a perfect playground where a variety of possibilities in structural variation as well as functionalities are expected. This potentially gives rise to a library of unique and fascinating 2D selenide based systems. These systems appear to demonstrate some spectacular variety of fundamental physics as well as indicate that some of these systems can be beneficial for several niche applications directly or indirectly resulting from their electrical and optical properties. As such, a description of recent investigations pertaining to some of the key electrical and optical properties of a few chosen binary selenide based compounds such as indium selenide, tin selenide, gallium selenide, germanium selenide and bismuth selenide is described. A final note on immediate research needs and directions in developing these materials systems for future applications is discussed.