Computational discovery, characterization, and design of single-layer materials

Single-layer materials open up tremendous opportunities for applications in nanoelectronic devices and energy technologies. We first review the four components of a materials science tetrahedron for single-layer materials. We then provide a theoretical perspective of characterizing single-layer materials. This leads to a general data-mining process to predict and computationally characterize emerging single-layer materials. Finally, we comment on limitations and possible improvements of current computational procedures for the discovery, characterization, and design of single-layer materials.