Nanoscale pressure sensors realized from suspended graphene membrane devices

Abstract

We study the transport properties of graphene layers placed over ∼200 nm triangular holes via attached electrodes under applied pressure. We find that the injected current division between counter electrodes depends on pressure and can be used to realize a nanoscale pressure sensor. Estimating various potential contributions to the resistivity change of the deflected graphene membrane including piezoresistivity, changing gate capacitance, and the valley Hall effect due to the pressure-induced synthetic magnetic field, we find that the valley Hall effect yields the largest expected contribution to the longitudinal resistivity modulation for accessible device parameters. Such devices in the ballistic transport regime may enable the realization of tunable valley polarized electron sources.