No Arabic abstract
The structural flexibility of low dimensional nanomaterials offers unique opportunities for studying the impact of strain on their physical properties and for developing innovative devices utilizing strain engineering. A key towards such goals is a device platform which allows the independent tuning and reliable calibration of the strain. Here we report the fabrication and characterization of graphene nanoelectromechanical resonators(GNEMRs) on flexible substrates. Combining substrate bending and electrostatic gating, we achieve the independent tuning of the strain and sagging in graphene and explore the nonlinear dynamics over a wide parameter space. Analytical and numerical studies of a continuum mechanics model, including the competing higher order nonlinear terms, reveal a comprehensive nonlinear dynamics phase diagram, which quantitatively explains the complex behaviors of GNEMRs.
We propose and analyze the detector of modulated terahertz (THz) radiation based on the graphene field-effect transistor with mechanically floating gate made of graphene as well. The THz component of incoming radiation induces resonant excitation of plasma oscillations in graphene layers (GLs). The rectified component of the ponderomotive force between GLs invokes resonant mechanical swinging of top GL, resulting in the drain current oscillations. To estimate the device responsivity, we solve the hydrodynamic equations for the electrons and holes in graphene governing the plasma-wave response, and the equation describing the graphene membrane oscillations. The combined plasma-mechanical resonance raises the current amplitude by up to four orders of magnitude. The use of graphene as a material for the elastic gate and conductive channel allows the voltage tuning of both resonant frequencies in a wide range.
Using a simple setup to bend a flexible substrate, we demonstrate deterministic and reproducible in-situ strain tuning of graphene electronic devices. Central to this method is the full hBN encapsulation of graphene, which preserves the exceptional quality of pristine graphene for transport experiments. In addition, the on-substrate approach allows one to exploit strain effects in the full range of possible sample geometries and at the same time guarantees that changes in the gate capacitance remain negligible during the deformation process. We use Raman spectroscopy to spatially map the strain magnitude in devices with two different geometries and demonstrate the possibility to engineer a strain gradient, which is relevant for accessing the valley degree of freedom with pseudo-magnetic fields. Comparing the transport characteristics of a suspended device with those of an on-substrate device, we demonstrate that our new approach does not suffer from the ambiguities encountered in suspended devices.
We study frequency dependent noise of a suspended carbon nanotube quantum dot nanoelectromechanical resonator induced by electron-vibration coupling. By using rigorous Keldysh diagrammatic technique, we build a formal framework to connect the vibration properties and the electrical measurement. We find that the noise power spectrum has a narrow resonant peak at the frequency of vibrational modes. This fine structure feature disappears due to a coherent cancellation effect when tuning tunneling barriers to a symmetric point. We note that measuring the electrical current noise spectra provides an alternative and ultra-sensitive detection method for determining the damping and dephasing of the quantum vibration modes.
We report on experimental demonstration of a new type of nanoelectromechanical resonators based on black phosphorus crystals. Facilitated by a highly efficient dry transfer technique, crystalline black phosphorus flakes are harnessed to enable drumhead resonators vibrating at high and very high frequencies (HF and VHF bands, up to ~100MHz). We investigate the resonant vibrational responses from the black phosphorus crystals by devising both electrical and optical excitation schemes, in addition to measuring the undriven thermomechanical motions in these suspended nanostructures. Flakes with thicknesses from ~200nm down to ~20nm clearly exhibit elastic characteristics transitioning from the plate to the membrane regime. Both frequency- and time-domain measurements of the nanomechanical resonances show that very thin black phosphorus crystals hold interesting promises for moveable and vibratory devices, and for semiconductor transducers where high-speed mechanical motions could be coupled to the attractive electronic and optoelectronic properties of black phosphorus.
We aim to understand how the van der Waals force between neutral adatoms and a graphene layer is modified by uniaxial strain and electron correlation effects. A detailed analysis is presented for three atoms (He, H, and Na) and graphene strain ranging from weak to moderately strong. We show that the van der Waals potential can be significantly enhanced by strain, and present applications of our results to the problem of elastic scattering of atoms from graphene. In particular we find that quantum reflection can be significantly suppressed by strain, meaning that dissipative inelastic effects near the surface become of increased importance. Furthermore we introduce a method to independently estimate the Lennard-Jones parameters used in an effective model of He interacting with graphene, and determine how they depend on strain. At short distances, we find that strain tends to reduce the interaction strength by pushing the location of the adsorption potential minima to higher distances above the deformed graphene sheet. This opens up the exciting possibility of mechanically engineering an adsorption potential, with implications for the formation and observation of anisotropic low dimensional superfluid phases.