Electromechanical oscillations in bilayer graphene.
Nanoelectromechanical systems constitute a class of devices lying at the interface between fundamental research and technological applications. Realizing nanoelectromechanical devices based on novel materials such as graphene 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 realize electromechanical devices using single and bilayer graphene 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 in the transition region induced by sliding of individual graphene layers with respect to each other. Our work shows that bilayer graphene conceals unexpectedly rich and novel physics with promising potential in applications based on nanoelectromechanical systems.
Electrical Engineering Institute, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne CH-1015, Switzerland.
Muhammed M
MM
Benameur
Institute of Theoretical Physics, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne CH-1015, Switzerland.
Fernando
F
Gargiulo
Electrical Engineering Institute, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne CH-1015, Switzerland.
Sajedeh
S
Manzeli
Institute of Theoretical Physics, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne CH-1015, Switzerland.
Gabriel
G
Autès
Electrical Engineering Institute, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne CH-1015, Switzerland.
Mahmut
M
Tosun
Institute of Theoretical Physics, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne CH-1015, Switzerland.
Oleg V
OV
Yazyev
Electrical Engineering Institute, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne CH-1015, Switzerland.
Andras
A
Kis