Researchers have created a 2D form of boron and shown that it behaves as a semiconductor.

Materials such as graphene (the atomically thin form of carbon) and others made of silicon and phosphorus have desirable electrical properties that could be useful in electronics, and 2D forms of boron have shown promise in theoretical work. To make a 2D boron crystal monolayer, Guoan Tai at the Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics in China and his collaborators deposited boron atoms onto a copper surface.

They showed that the 2D material has electronic and optical properties that could be useful for building devices such as lasers and thin-film photovoltaic panels.

Angew. Chem. Int. Edn http://doi.org/f3jsqh (2015)