Controlled Positioning of Nanoparticles on Graphene by Non-Invasive AFM lithography

Atomic force microscopy is shown to be an excellent lithographic
technique to directly deposit nanoparticles on graphene by capillary transport
without any previous functionalization of neither the nanoparticles nor the
graphene surface while preserving its integrity and conductivity properties.
Moreover this technique allows for (sub)micrometric control on the positioning
thanks to a new three-step protocol that has been designed with this aim. With
this methodology the exact target coordinates are registered by scanning the tip
over the predetermined area previous to its coating with the ink and deposition.
As a proof-of-concept, this strategy has successfully allowed the controlled
deposition of few nanoparticles on 1 μm2 preselected sites of a graphene surface
with high accuracy.