The dielectric constant of a bilayer graphene interface

Abstract

The interlayer relative dielectric constant, ε_r, of 2-dimensional (2D) materials in general and graphitic materials in particular is one of their most important physical properties, especially for electronic applications. In this work, we study the electromechanical actuation of nano-scale graphitic contacts. We find that beside the adhesive forces there are capacitive forces that scale parabolically with the potential drop across the sheared interface. We use this phenomena to measure the intrinsic dielectric constant of the bilayer graphene interface i.e. ε_r = 6 ± 2, which is in perfect agreement with recent theoretical predictions for multi-layer graphene structures. Our method can be generally used to extract the dielectric properties of 2D materials systems and interfaces and our results pave the way for utilizing graphitic and other 2D materials in electromechanical based applications.