Edge-stress induced warping of graphene sheets and nanoribbons

Authors

Ashwin Ramasubramaniam, University of Massachusetts - AmherstFollow
Y. Zhang
C. Reddy
V. Shenoy

Publication Date

December 2008

Journal or Book Title

Physical Review Letters

Abstract

We show that edge stresses introduce intrinsic ripples in freestanding graphene sheets even in the absence of any thermal effects. Compressive edge stresses along zigzag and armchair edges of the sheet cause out-of-plane warping to attain several degenerate mode shapes. Based on elastic plate theory, we identify scaling laws for the amplitude and penetration depth of edge ripples as a function of wavelength. We also demonstrate that edge stresses can lead to twisting and scrolling of nanoribbons as seen in experiments. Our results underscore the importance of accounting for edge stresses in thermal theories and electronic structure calculations for freestanding graphene sheets.

Comments

Doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.101.245501 Copyright 2008 by the American Physical Society.

Volume

101

Issue

24

Recommended Citation

Ramasubramaniam, Ashwin; Zhang, Y.; Reddy, C.; and Shenoy, V., "Edge-stress induced warping of graphene sheets and nanoribbons" (2008). Physical Review Letters. 612.
Retrieved from https://scholarworks.umass.edu/mie_faculty_pubs/612