The sensitivity of Graphene 'Snap-through' to substrate geometry

TL;DR

This paper presents a theoretical study on how the shape of a substrate influences the transition of graphene sheets from flat to conforming states, revealing the critical role of substrate geometry in the 'snap-through' phenomenon.

Contribution

The authors develop a new analytical model that explains the substrate shape's impact on graphene's conformational transition and propose a substrate design for a continuous transition.

Findings

Analytical model aligns with numerical simulations.

Substrate shape critically affects the 'snap-through' transition.

Proposed substrate design enables continuous transition.

Abstract

We study theoretically the deposition of Few Layer Graphene sheets onto a grooved substrate incorporating adhesion between substrate and sheet. We develop a model to understand the equilibrium of the sheet allowing for partial conformation of sheet to substrate. This model gives new insight into recent observations of 'snap-through' from flat to conforming states and emphasizes the crucial role of substrate shape in determining the nature of this transition. Our analytical results are consistent with numerical simulations using a van der Waals-like interaction . Finally we propose a novel substrate shape that should exhibit a continuous, rather than 'snap-through', transition.