Strain and friction induced by van der Waals interaction in individual single walled carbon nanotubes

Axial strain is introduced into individual single wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) suspended from a trench-containing Si/SiO2 substrate by employing the van der Waals interaction between the SWCNT and the substrate. Resonance Raman spectroscopy is used to characterize the strain, and up to 3% axial strain is observed. It is also found that a significant friction between the SWCNT and the substrate, on the order of 10 pN/nm, governs the localization and propagation of the strain in the SWCNTs sitting on the substrate. This method can be applied to introduce strain into materials sitting on a substrate, such as a graphene sheet. (c) 2007 American Institute of Physics.