NANO EXPRESS Snap-Through Instability of Graphene on Substrates

Abstract We determine the graphene morphology regu-lated by substrates with herringbone and checkerboard surface corrugations. As the graphene–substrate interfacial bonding energy and the substrate surface roughness vary, the graphene morphology snaps between two distinct states: (1) closely conforming to the substrate and (2) remaining nearly flat on the substrate. Since the graphene morphology is strongly tied to the electronic properties of graphene, such a snap-through instability of graphene morphology can lead to desirable graphene electronic properties that could potentially enable graphene-based functional electronic components (e.g. nano-switches)