Bistability and oscillatory motion of natural nanomembranes appearing within monolayer graphene on silicon dioxide.
The truly two-dimensional material graphene is an ideal candidate for nanoelectromechanics due to its large strength and mobility. Here we show that graphene flakes provide natural nanomembranes of diameter down to 3 nm within its intrinsic rippling. The membranes can be lifted either reversibly or hysteretically by the tip of a scanning tunneling microscope. The clamped-membrane model including van-der-Waals and dielectric forces explains the results quantitatively. AC-fields oscillate the membranes, which might lead to a completely novel approach to controlled quantized oscillations or single atom mass detection.
Mashoff
T
T
2nd Institute of Physics B, RWTH Aachen University, 52074 Aachen, Germany.
Pratzer
M
M
Geringer
V
V
Echtermeyer
T J
TJ
Lemme
M C
MC
Liebmann
M
M
Morgenstern
M
M
D000327:Adsorption; D006108:Graphite / Q000737:chemistry*; D008567:Membranes, Artificial; D016252:Microscopy, Scanning Tunneling / Q000379:methods; D015233:Models, Statistical; D049329:Nanostructures / Q000737:chemistry*; D036103:Nanotechnology / Q000379:methods*; D009991:Oscillometry; D012822:Silicon Dioxide / Q000737:chemistry*; D055672:Static Electricity; D013997:Time Factors
D008567:Membranes, Artificial; D012822:Silicon Dioxide; D006108:Graphite