Journal
NANO LETTERS
Volume 13, Issue 5, Pages 2309-2313Publisher
AMER CHEMICAL SOC
DOI: 10.1021/nl401180t
Keywords
Graphene; interfacial forces; nanoelectromechanical systems; pull-in instability
Categories
Funding
- NSF [0900832, 1054406]
- DARPA Center on Nanoscale Science and Technology for Integrated Micro/Nano-Electromechanical Transducers (iMINT)
- National Science Foundation (NSF) Industry/University Cooperative Research Center for Membrane Science, Engineering and Technology (MAST)
- NNIN
- National Science Foundation [ECS-0335765]
- Div Of Civil, Mechanical, & Manufact Inn
- Directorate For Engineering [0900832, 1054406] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
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We present a unique experimental configuration that allows us to determine the interfacial forces on nearly parallel plates made from the thinnest possible mechanical structures, single and few layer graphene membranes. Our approach consists of using a pressure difference across a graphene membrane to bring the membrane to within similar to 10-20 nm above a circular post covered with SiOx or Au until a critical point is reached whereby the membrane snaps into adhesive contact with the post. Continuous measurements of the deforming membrane with an AFM coupled with a theoretical model allow us to deduce the magnitude of the interfacial forces between graphene and SiOx and graphene and Au. The nature of the interfacial forces at similar to 10-20 nm separation is consistent with an inverse fourth power distance dependence, implying that the interfacial forces are dominated by van der Waals interactions. Furthermore, the strength of the interactions is found to increase linearly with the number of graphene layers. The experimental approach can be used to measure the strength of the interfacial forces for other atomically thin two-dimensional materials and help guide the development of nanomechanical devices such as switches, resonators, and sensors.
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