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Phoenix666 [soylentnews.org] writes:

This week, an international group of scientists is reporting a breakthrough in the effort to characterize the properties of graphene noninvasively while acquiring information about its response to structural strain.

Using Raman spectroscopy and statistical analysis, the group succeeded in taking nanoscale measurements of the strain present at each pixel on the material's surface [phys.org]. The researchers also obtained a high-resolution view of the chemical properties of the graphene surface.

The results, says Slava V. Rotkin, professor of physics and also of materials science and engineering at Lehigh University, could potentially enable scientists to monitor levels of strain quickly and accurately as graphene is being fabricated. This in turn could help prevent the formation of defects that are caused by strain.

There have been recent findings that intentionally introducing "defects" in graphene can help with conductivity and induce other desired effects. This could help that process.

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