Critical behavior in graphene: spinodal instability at room temperature

TL;DR

This paper investigates the critical mechanical instability of graphene at a specific in-plane stress, demonstrating a model that aligns with simulations and experiments, revealing a square-root behavior of strain near the critical point.

Contribution

The paper introduces a model describing the critical behavior of graphene near spinodal instability, validated by simulations and experimental data.

Findings

Graphene becomes mechanically unstable at a critical in-plane stress.

The in-plane strain near the critical stress follows a square-root law.

Model predictions agree with experimental and simulation results.

Abstract

At a critical spinodal in-plane stress $\tau_{C}$ a planar crystalline graphene layer becomes mechanically unstable. We present a model of the critical behavior of the membrane area near $\tau_{C}$ and show that it is in complete agreement with path-integral simulations and with recent experiments based on interferometric profilometry and Raman spectroscopy. Close to the critical stress, $\tau_{C}$, the in-plane strain behaves as $\left(\tau_{C}-\tau\right)^{1/2}$ for $\tau<\tau_{C}$.