Strain engineering in functional 2-dimensional materials

Two-dimensional (2D) materials have attracted growing interest in the past decade because of their extraordinary properties and great potential in a wide range of applications. Strain is regarded as a simple yet powerful tool to modulate the properties of 2D materials, as it directly affects lattice structures and thus alters electronic structures. In this tutorial, we first discuss the fundamentals of strain engineering in 2D materials from macro and atomic perspective and then review some approaches to strain engineering as well as their merits and drawbacks. After that, we examine in detail how strain modulates physical and chemical properties in various types of 2D materials. In the last section of this tutorial, the applications of strain engineering in functional 2D materials are exhibited.