Monolayer graphene exhibits exceptional electronic and mechanical properties, making it a very promising material for nanoelectromechanical (NEMS) devices. Here, we conclusively demonstrate the piezoresistive effect in graphene in a nano-electromechanical membrane configuration that provides direct electrical readout of pressure to strain transduction. This makes it highly relevant for an important class of nano-electromechanical system (NEMS) transducers. This demonstration is consistent with our simulations and previously reported gauge factors and simulation values. The membrane in our experiment acts as a strain gauge independent of crystallographic orientation and allows for aggressive size scalability. When compared with conventional pressure sensors, the sensors have orders of magnitude higher sensitivity per unit area.
@article{arxiv.1306.5876,
title = {Electromechanical Piezoresistive Sensing in Suspended Graphene Membranes},
author = {A. D. Smith and F. Niklaus and A. Paussa and S. Vaziri and A. C. Fischer and M. Sterner and F. Forsberg and A. Delin and D. Esseni and P. Palestri and M. Östling and M. C. Lemme},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1306.5876},
year = {2013}
}