Phonon softening and crystallographic orientation of strained graphene studied by Raman spectroscopy

Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2009 May 5;106(18):7304-8. doi: 10.1073/pnas.0811754106. Epub 2009 Apr 20.

Abstract

We present a systematic study of the Raman spectra of optical phonons in graphene monolayers under tunable uniaxial tensile stress. Both the G and 2D bands exhibit significant red shifts. The G band splits into 2 distinct subbands (G(+), G(-)) because of the strain-induced symmetry breaking. Raman scattering from the G(+) and G(-) bands shows a distinctive polarization dependence that reflects the angle between the axis of the stress and the underlying graphene crystal axes. Polarized Raman spectroscopy therefore constitutes a purely optical method for the determination of the crystallographic orientation of graphene.

Publication types

  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.