Symmetry of atomistic structure for armchair-edge graphene nanoribbons under uniaxial strain.

We present a systematic first-principles calculation on the atomistic structural variation for armchair-edge graphene nanoribbons (AGNRs) under a small planar uniaxial strain along armchair and zigzag directions, respectively. Interestingly, it is found that asymmetric AGNRs are more sensitive to the external strain with more types of carbon-carbon bonds and angles, while symmetric ones show less types of bonds and angles under the same strain. This difference is attributed to the symmetric property of AGNRs combining with the bond theory. Our findings may be useful in further understanding of GNRs under strain and in designing nanoelectromechanical devices based on GNRs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]