Probing built-in stress effect on the defect density of stretched monolayer graphene membranes

Abstract

Abstract It is of great interest to link Raman scattering to the properties of disorders in graphene membranes, which provides an effective characterization method to probe atomic scale defects. The built-in stress effect on the defect densities of substrate-supported monolayer graphene membranes around wells is investigated. First, a modified phenomenological model is developed to depict the relationship between built-in stresses and defect-activated Raman intensities. To validate the rationality of the modified model, Raman spectroscopy is used to characterize stretched graphene membranes on different patterned substrates with micro-scale wells. The experimental data indicate that the intensity ratio of D mode to G mode ID/IG increases with the Raman test point approaching the well edge. According to the modified model, the increase of ID/IG means the rise of defect densities, which originates from the propagation of initial defects in graphene membranes under built-in tension. The underlying mechanism of defect density increasing phenomenon is that the built-in stresses provide the energy for defect propagations in stretched graphene membranes. Theoretical and experimental comparison well validates the rationality of the modified model. The work can provide a theoretical foundation for Raman characterization method of defect propagations in stretched graphene and applications of defective graphene-based nanodevices.