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The exploration of two dimensional layered materials (2DLMs) with atomic thickness and rich bandstructures has taken both the scientific and technological communities by storm during the past one and a half decade. Graphene plays a pioneering role in the development of 2DLMs but its gapless bandstructure somehow limits further applications. Following the huge success of graphene, more and more 2DLMs have been discovered and studied, including the transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs), hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN), black phosphorus (BP), silicene, 2D perovskites, etc. So far, the fast pace of TMD material development shows no sign of slow down. More research topics have been systematically explored in various types of 2DLMs, such as quantum transport, spintronics, topological phases, 2D magnetism and 2D ferroelectricity. Despite the continuous exciting achievements of 2DLMs, challenges still exist. The main bottleneck preventing practical applications is apparently the large-scale and uniform synthesis of 2DLM with high quality and controlled structure. On the other hand, until now most 2DLMs still remain a platform for fundamental research. Regarding practical application of 2DLMs, it is difficult yet unrealistic to use them to replace certain types of conventional materials in a short period, such as the efforts to replace Si-based electronics. However, 2DLMs can certainly find their places in some appropriate applications such as flexible and low-power devices that more directly benefit from their “atomically thin nature”. Also, with the nonstop efforts from emerging interdisciplinary research fields, we believe the unique properties of 2DLMs will definitely inspire new applications in the near future. Targeting at the above goals, this special focus on two-dimensional materials and device applications of SCIENCE CHINA Information Sciences attempts to present recent works related to 2DLMs, covering a wide array of topics. Transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) exhibit versatile bandstructures and thus can be utilized in various applications from logic to optoelectronic devices. Tang et al. review the recent developments of wafer-scale TMDs film from material synthesis to device and circuits application. For the synthesis of continuous TMD films, chemical vapor deposition method is mainly discussed, providing a scalable and controllable route for the growth of high-quality films. Basic logic units and other circuits fabricated in large scale are summarized. In addition, memory, optoelectronic and analog devices fabricated on wafer-scale TMD films are also included in their review. Zhang et al. review the latest progress on the topic of 2D ferroic orderings from both experimental and theoretical points of view. This review mainly focuses on two portions: 2D magnetism and 2D ferroelectricity. The booming of ferroic orderings in van der Waals 2DLMs are introduced and summarized in the review. It also discusses their tremendous opportunities in the development of fundamental physics and potential information industrial applications. Qin et al. review the recent progress in synthesis of carbon nanotube, graphene and their hybrid architectures, together with the application in the electronic, optoelectronic devices and supercapacitors based on all-carbon hybrids. They show that all-carbon hybrids could be one of the most promising