Measuring the Spring Constant of Epitaxial Graphene Ridges Formed on the C-Face Surface of SiC by AFM

Abstract

Epitaxial graphene was grown on the C-terminated face of Silicon Carbide substrate using high temperature vacuum annealing method. Ridge-like graphene structures were identified at the nanoscale with Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) measurements. The effective spring constant of those elongated graphene ridges were measured by compressing them locally in the vertical direction with an AFM cantilever for the applied normal force ranging between 4 and 16 nN. The measurements showed that the magnitude of the effective spring constant of the observed graphene ridges has a dependence on their morphological parameters such as width and height. The experimental findings emphasize the potential of graphene ridges as nanoscale spring-like structures.