Thermal mirror buckling in freestanding graphene locally controlled by scanning tunneling microscopy

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates thermal mirror buckling in freestanding graphene using STM and simulations, revealing how temperature gradients can control graphene curvature for advanced nanodevices.

Contribution

It introduces thermal load as a new method to manipulate graphene curvature, expanding beyond electrostatic techniques.

Findings

Thermal load induces mirror buckling in graphene.

Negative thermal expansion of graphene explains buckling behavior.

Thermal control offers new avenues for nanodevice design.

Abstract

Knowledge of and control over the curvature of ripples in freestanding graphene are desirable for fabricating and designing flexible electronic devices, and recent progress in these pursuits has been achieved using several advanced techniques such as scanning tunneling microscopy. The electrostatic forces induced through a bias voltage (or gate voltage) were used to manipulate the interaction of freestanding graphene with a tip (substrate). Such forces can cause large movements and sudden changes in curvature through mirror buckling. Here we explore an alternative mechanism, thermal load, to control the curvature of graphene. We demonstrate thermal mirror buckling of graphene by scanning tunneling microscopy and large-scale molecular dynamic simulations. The negative thermal expansion coefficient of graphene is an essential ingredient in explaining the observed effects. This new control mechanism represents a fundamental advance in understanding the influence of temperature gradients on the dynamics of freestanding graphene and future applications with electro-thermal-mechanical nanodevices.