Alkali metal
Inducing n-type doping within silicene requires an alkali metal dopant. Varying the amount adjusts the band gap. Maximum doping increases the band gap 0.5eV. Due to heavy doping, the supply voltage must also be c. 30V. Alkali metal-doped silicene can only produce n-type semiconductors; modern day electronics require a complementary n-type and p-type junction. Neutral doping (i-type) is required to produce devices such as light emitting diodes (LEDs). LEDs use a p-i-n junction to produce light. A separate dopant must be introduced to generate p-type doped silicene. Iridium (Ir) doped silicene allows p-type silicene to be created. Through platinum (Pt) doping, i-type silicene is possible. With the combination of n-type, p-type and i-type doped structures, silicene has opportunities for use in electronics.