Straining Graphene Using Thin Film Shrinkage Methods

Theoretical works suggest the possibility and usefulness of strain engineering of graphene by predicting remarkable properties, such as Dirac cone merging, bandgap opening and pseudo magnetic field generation. However, most of these predictions have not yet been confirmed because it is experimentally difficult to control the magnitude and type (e.g., uniaxial, biaxial, and so forth) of strain in graphene devices. Here we report two novel methods to apply strain without bending the substrate. We employ thin films of evaporated metal and organic insulator deposited on graphene, which shrink after electron beam irradiation or heat application. These methods make it possible to apply both biaxial strain and in-plane isotropic compressive strain in a well-controlled manner. Raman spectroscopy measurements show a clear splitting of the degenerate states of the G-band in the case of biaxial strain, and G-band blue shift without splitting in the case of in-plane isotropic compressive strain. In the case of biaxial strain application, we find out the ratio of the strain component perpendicular to the stretching direction is at least three times larger than what was previously observed, indicating that shrinkage of the metal or organic insulator deposited on graphene induces both tensile and compressive strain in this atomically thin material. Our studies present for the first time a viable way to apply strain to graphene without the need to bend the substrate.