Electromechanical Oscillations in Bilayer Graphene

TL;DR

This paper investigates electromechanical oscillations in bilayer graphene within nanoelectromechanical systems, revealing quantum interference effects and novel physics that could enhance NEMS applications.

Contribution

It demonstrates the presence of oscillations in bilayer graphene's electromechanical response and proposes a quantum interference model explaining this phenomenon.

Findings

Oscillations observed in bilayer graphene's electromechanical response

Linear resistance increase in monolayer graphene nanoribbons with deflection

Quantum interference explains bilayer graphene oscillations

Abstract

Nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS) constitute a class of devices lying at the interface between fundamental research and technological applications. Integrating novel materials such as graphene into NEMS allows studying their mechanical and electromechanical characteristics at the nanoscale and addressing fundamental questions such as electron-phonon interaction and bandgap engineering. In this work, we integrate single and bilayer graphene into NEMS and probe the interplay between their mechanical and electrical properties. We show that the deflection of monolayer graphene nanoribbons results in a linear increase in their electrical resistance. Surprisingly, we observe oscillations in the electromechanical response of bilayer graphene. The proposed theoretical model suggests that these oscillations arise from quantum mechanical interference taking place due to the lateral displacement of graphene layers with respect to each other. Our work shows that bilayer graphene conceals unexpectedly rich and novel physics with promising potential in NEMS-based applications.