No Arabic abstract
We show by atomistic simulations that, in the thermodynamic limit, the in-plane elastic moduli of graphene at finite temperature vanish with system size $ L $ as a power law $ ~ L^{-eta_u} $ with $ eta_u simeq 0.325 $, in agreement with the membrane theory. Our simulations clearly reveal the size and strain dependence of graphenes elastic moduli, allowing comparison to experimental data. Although the recently measured difference of a factor 2 between the asymptotic value of the Young modulus for tensilely strained systems and the value from {it ab initio} calculations remains unsolved, our results do explain the experimentally observed increase of more than a factor 2 for a tensile strain of only a few permille. We also discuss the scaling of the Poisson ratio, for which our simulations disagree with the predictions of the self-consistent screening approximation.
Due to atomically thin structure, graphene/hexagonal boron nitride (G/hBN) heterostructures are intensively sensitive to the external mechanical forces and deformations being applied to their lattice structure. In particular, strain can lead to the modification of the electronic properties of G/hBN. Furthermore, moire structures driven by misalignment of graphene and hBN layers introduce new features to the electronic behavior of G/hBN. Utilizing {it ab initio} calculation, we study the strain-induced modification of the electronic properties of diverse stacking faults of G/hBN when applying in-plane strain on both layers, simultaneously. We observe that the interplay of few percent magnitude in-plane strain and moire pattern in the experimentally applicable systems leads to considerable valley drifts, band gap modulation and enhancement of the substrate-induced Fermi velocity renormalization. Furthermore, we find that regardless of the strain alignment, the zigzag direction becomes more efficient for electronic transport, when applying in-plane non-equibiaxial strains.
The superior intrinsic properties of graphene have been a key research focus for the past few years. However, external components, such as metallic contacts, serve not only as essential probing elements, but also give rise to an effective electron cavity, which can form the basis for new quantum devices. In previous studies, quantum interference effects were demonstrated in graphene heterojunctions formed by a top gate. Here phase coherent transport behavior is demonstrated in a simple two terminal graphene structure with clearly-resolved Fabry-Perot oscillations in sub-100 nm devices. By aggressively scaling the channel length down to 50 nm, we study the evolution of the graphene transistor from the channel-dominated diffusive regime to the contact-dominated ballistic regime. Key issues such as the current asymmetry, the question of Fermi level pinning by the contacts, the graphene screening determining the heterojunction barrier width, the scaling of minimum conductivity and of the on/off current ratio, are investigated.
Self-assembled quantum dots (QDs) are highly strained heterostructures. the lattice strain significantly modifies the electronic and optical properties of these devices. A universal behavior is observed in atomistic strain simulations (in terms of both strain magnitude and profile) of QDs with different shapes and materials. In this paper, this universal behavior is investigated by atomistic as well as analytic continuum models. Atomistic strain simulations are very accurate but computationally expensive. On the other hand, analytic continuum solutions are based on assumptions that significantly reduce the accuracy of the strain calculations, but are very fast. Both techniques indicate that the strain depends on the aspect ratio (AR) of the QDs, and not on the individual dimensions. Thus simple closed form equations are introduced which directly provide the atomistic strain values inside the QD as a function of the AR and the material parameters. Moreover, the conduction and valence band edges $E_{C/V}$ and their effective masses $m^*_{C/V}$ of the QDs are dictated by the strain and AR consequently. The universal dependence of atomistic strain on the AR is useful in many ways; Not only does it reduce the computational cost of atomistic simulations significantly, but it also provides information about the optical transitions of QDs given the knowledge of $E_{C/V}$ and $m^*_{C/V}$ from AR. Finally, these expressions are used to calculate optical transition wavelengths in InAs/GaAs QDs and the results agree well with experimental measurements and atomistic simulations.
Multilayer graphene (MLG) thin films are deposited on silicon oxide substrates by mechanical exfoliation (or scotch-tape method) from Kish graphite. The thickness and number of layers are determined from both Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) and Raman Spectroscopy. Electrical terminals are deposited on MLGs in a four-probe configuration by electron-beam lithography, gold/titanium thermal evaporation, and lift-off. The electrical resistance is measured from room temperature down to 2 K. The electrical resistance of the MLGs shows an increase with decreasing temperature, and then decreases after reaching a maximum value. These results are compared with recent experimental and theoretical data from the literature.
We employ three dimensional x-ray coherent diffraction imaging to map the lattice strain distribution, and to probe the elastic properties of a single crystalline Ni (001) nanowire grown vertically on an amorphous Si02 || Si substrate. The reconstructed density maps show that with increasing wire width, the equilibrium compressive stress in the core region decreases sharply while the surface tensile strain increases, and gradually trends to a nonzero constant. We use the retrieved projection of lattice distortion to predict the Youngs Modulus of the wire based on the elasticity theory.