Dynamic negative compressibility of few-layer graphene, h-BN, and MoS2.

We report a novel mechanical response of few-layer graphene, h-BN, and MoS(2) to the simultaneous compression and shear by an atomic force microscope (AFM) tip. The response is characterized by the vertical expansion of these two-dimensional (2D) layered materials upon compression. Such effect is proportional to the applied load, leading to vertical strain values (opposite to the applied force) of up to 150%. The effect is null in the absence of shear, increases with tip velocity, and is anisotropic. It also has similar magnitudes in these solid lubricant materials (few-layer graphene, h-BN, and MoS(2)), but it is absent in single-layer graphene and in few-layer mica and Bi(2)Se(3). We propose a physical mechanism for the effect where the combined compressive and shear stresses from the tip induce dynamical wrinkling on the upper material layers, leading to the observed flake thickening. The new effect (and, therefore, the proposed wrinkling) is reversible in the three materials where it is observed.

Raman study of ion-induced defects in N-layer graphene.

Raman scattering is used to study the effect of low energy (90 eV) Ar(+) ion bombardment in graphene samples as a function of the number of layers N. The evolution of the intensity ratio between the G band (1585 cm(-1)) and the disorder-induced D band (1345 cm(-1)) with ion fluence is determined for mono-, bi-, tri- and ∼50-layer graphene samples, providing a spectroscopy-based method to study the penetration of these low energy Ar(+) ions in AB Bernal stacked graphite, and how they affect the graphene sheets. The results clearly depend on the number of layers. We also analyze the evolution of the overall integrated Raman intensity and the integrated intensity for disorder-induced versus Raman-allowed peaks.