Effects of electron beam irradiation on the friction and work function of the wrinkled graphene

The ability to control the tribological and electrical properties of graphene is critical to the fabrication of micro- and nanoelectromechanical systems (MEMS/NEMS) devices. Due to its high energy, electron beam irradiation has been widely used to adjust the local electrical properties of the graphene, such as inducing local defects or n-type doping. However, whether electron beam irradiation can affect the local tribological properties of wrinkled graphene has not been investigated yet. In this research, we demonstrated that the lateral force signal and the work function of the wrinkled monolayer graphene were affected by the electron beam irradiation. By using Kelvin-probe force microscopy (KPFM) and Raman spectroscopy, we measured the local electrical properties of the wrinkled monolayer graphene and confirmed that the electron-beam exposed area was changed as n-doped graphene. We compared the lateral force signal with surface potential data and concluded that the n-type doping induced by electron beam affected the tribological characteristics. Characterization of the electron-beam exposed wrinkled graphene provides a physical insight that the electrical and tribological characteristics of wrinkled graphene are correlated. •The lateral force signal and the work function of the wrinkled monolayer graphene were affected by the electron beam irradiation.•The n-type doping induced by electron beam affected the tribological characteristics.•The correlation between tribological and electrical properties on the wrinkled graphene was observed.