Engineering tunable strain fields in suspended graphene by microelectromechanical systems

TL;DR

This paper introduces a MEMS-based method to precisely control and measure strain and doping in suspended graphene, enabling detailed study of its electromechanical properties.

Contribution

The work integrates graphene with silicon-MEMS technology, allowing full control and characterization of strain and doping in graphene membranes.

Findings

Precise control of strain fields in graphene achieved

Doping levels can be tuned and characterized spatially

Mechanical coupling between graphene and MEMS detected via resonant frequencies

Abstract

Here, we present a micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) for the investigation of the electromechanical coupling in graphene and potentially related 2D materials. Key innovations of our technique include: (1) the integration of graphene into silicon-MEMS technology; (2) full control over induced strain fields and doping levels within the graphene membrane and their characterization via spatially resolved confocal Raman spectroscopy; and (3) the ability to detect the mechanical coupling of the graphene sheet to the MEMS device with via their mechanical resonator eigenfrequencies.