Measuring vibration-induced strain in an atomically-thin drum

Xin Zhang, Kevin Makles, Léo Colombier, Dominik Metten, Hicham Majjad, Pierre Verlot & Stéphane Berciaud

Nature Communications 11, 5526– Published 2 November 2020

Physicists at IPCMS (Université de Strasbourg and CNRS) in collaboration with the University of Nottingham (UK) have demonstrated efficient mechanical strain-mediated coupling between the quantized microscopic vibrations (optical phonons) and the macroscopic oscillations of an atomically-thin membrane made from a graphene monolayer. This fundamental work holds promise for the development of 2D-systems with mechanically tunable light-matter interactions.