Visualising the strain distribution in suspended two-dimensional materials under local deformation

We demonstrate the use of combined simultaneous atomic force microscopy (AFM) and laterally resolved Raman spectroscopy to study the strain distribution around highly localised deformations in suspended two-dimensional materials. Using the AFM tip as a nanoindentation probe, we induce localised strain in suspended few-layer graphene, which we adopt as a two-dimensional membrane model system. Concurrently, we visualise the strain distribution under and around the AFM tip in situ using hyperspectral Raman mapping via the strain-dependent frequency shifts of the few-layer graphene’s G and 2D Raman bands. Thereby we show how the contact of the nm-sized scanning probe tip results in a two-dimensional strain field with μm dimensions in the suspended membrane. Our combined AFM/Raman approach thus adds to the critically required instrumental toolbox towards nanoscale strain engineering of two-dimensional materials.