Mechanics of freely-suspended ultrathin layered materials

The study of atomically thin two-dimensional materials is a young and rapidly growing field. In the past years, a great advance in the study of the remarkable electrical and optical properties of 2D materials fabricated by exfoliation of bulk layered materials has been achieved. Due to the extraordinary mechanical properties of these atomically thin materials, they also hold a great promise for future applications such as flexible electronics. For example, this family of materials can sustain very large deformations without breaking. Due to the combination of small dimensions, high Young's modulus and high crystallinity of 2D materials, they have attracted the attention of the field of nanomechanical systems as high frequency and high quality factor resonators. In this article, we review experiments on static and dynamic response of 2D materials. We provide an overview and comparison of the mechanics of different materials, and highlight the unique properties of these thin crystalline layers. We conclude with an outlook of the mechanics of 2D materials and future research directions such as the coupling of the mechanical deformation to their electronic structure.