The mechanical characterization of two-dimensional materials (WS2, MoS2, and graphene) and the effect of defects on young`s modulus of CVD grown single-layer graphene

Abstract

With the first isolation of graphene two-dimensional (2D) materials attracted the enormous interest of many researchers. Owing to extraordinary properties and atomic thickness 2D materials have many applications in gas detection, electrodes, energy storage devices, field effect devices, sensors, photodetectors, solar cells, nanocomposites, actuators/ resonators, biological membranes,cancer detectors, piezoresistive pressure sensors, gas impermeable membranes, gas or liquid separation. Despite the atomic thickness, the gapless character of the graphene limits its applications in modern electronic devices. There are two strategies for solving the problem, first one is to open the band-gap in graphene and second is to explore new 2D materials. Generation of defects and applying an electrical field can increase the band-gap of graphene but defects can affect other properties of it. Therefore, there is a need for new analogs and transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) are the most promising ones. TMDs drew the attention of many researchers because of the remarkable electronic and optical properties. TMD materials exhibit a semiconducting nature owing to the presence of the band-gap, which is essential for the logical operations. Besides electronic properties, the mechanical properties( Youngs Modulus) play a significant role in applications of 2D materials. 2D materials are most promising candidates for flexible electronic devices, which received enormous interest in recent years. But the applied strain and other external forces can modify the structure of crystalline graphene and TMDs, consequently affect the performance and lifetime of devices. In this work, we aimed to measure the Youngs Modulus of graphene, MoS2 film, MoS2 and WS2 flakes with an Atomic Force Microscope (AFM). In addition, we sought the relation between the defect intensity and Youngs Modulus of graphene. The defects in graphene were generated by Ga+ with different doses in Focused Ion Beam (FIB). We found Youngs Moduli of graphene, MoS2 film, MoS2 and WS2 flakes to be 270 N/m, 330 N/m, 90 N/m and 140 N/m, respectively. These values are lower than those given in a literature, what might be caused by the pre-existence of unwanted defects. Also, it appeared that the introduction of defects leads to the fall in Young`s Modulus values of the graphene.