title: Multifunctional cantilever-free scanning probe arrays coated with multilayer graphene.
abstract: Scanning probe instruments have expanded beyond their traditional role as imaging or "reading" tools and are now routinely used for "writing." Although a variety of scanning probe lithography techniques are available, each one imposes different requirements on the types of probes that must be used. Additionally, throughput is a major concern for serial writing techniques, so for a scanning probe lithography technique to become widely applied, there needs to be a reasonable path toward a scalable architecture. Here, we use a multilayer graphene coating method to create multifunctional massively parallel probe arrays that have wear-resistant tips of uncompromised sharpness and high electrical and thermal conductivities. The optical transparency and mechanical flexibility of graphene allow this procedure to be used for coating exceptionally large, cantilever-free arrays that can pattern with electrochemical desorption and thermal, in addition to conventional, dip-pen nanolithography.
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, USA.
authors.forename: Wooyoung
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Shim
authors.forename: Keith A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.forename: Xiaozhu
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Boris
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Rasin
authors.forename: Xing
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liao
authors.forename: Chad A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Mirkin