Straining Graphene by Chemical Vapour Deposition Growth on Copper

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that uniform compressive strain in graphene can be controlled by adjusting the CVD growth temperature on copper, with strain quantified via Raman spectroscopy and ab initio calculations.

Contribution

It introduces a simple method to tune graphene strain through CVD growth temperature adjustments on copper substrates.

Findings

Uniform compressive strain can be induced by cooling the graphene-copper system.

Raman spectroscopy detects a shift in the 2D peak correlating with strain.

Ab initio calculations support the experimental strain analysis.

Abstract

Strain can be used as an alternate way to tune the electronic properties of graphene. Here we demonstrate that it is possible to tune the uniform strain of graphene simply by changing the chemical vapor deposition growth temperature of graphene on copper. Due to the cooling of the graphene on copper system, we can induce a uniform compressive strain on graphene. The strain is analyzed by Raman spectroscopy, where a shift in the 2D peak is observed and compared to our ab initio calculations of the graphene on copper system as a function of strain.