Prof. Deji Akinwande has received a 3-year grant from the Army Research office (ARO) to fund new material and device research based on silicene, a two-dimensional form of silicon which was invented in the last few years. This 2D silicon promises to be of greater impact than graphene with direct compatibility with existing silicon vlsi technology.

The U.S. Army Research Laboratory's Army Research Office (ARO) mission is to serve as the Army's premier extramural basic research agency in the engineering, physical, information and life sciences; developing and exploiting innovative advances to ensure the Nation's technological superiority.