title: Direct manufacturing of ultrathin graphite on three-dimensional nanoscale features.
abstract: There have been many successful attempts to grow high-quality large-area graphene on flat substrates. Doing so at the nanoscale has thus far been plagued by significant scalability problems, particularly because of the need for delicate transfer processes onto predefined features, which are necessarily low-yield processes and which can introduce undesirable residues. Herein we describe a highly scalable, clean and effective, in-situ method that uses thin film deposition techniques to directly grow on a continuous basis ultrathin graphite (uG) on uneven nanoscale surfaces. We then demonstrate that this is possible on a model system of atomic force probe tips of various radii. Further, we characterize the growth characteristics of this technique as well as the film's superior conduction and lower adhesion at these scales. This sets the stage for such a process to allow the use of highly functional graphite in high-aspect-ratio nanoscale components.
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX1 3PH United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Mercè
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pacios
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX1 3PH United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Peiman
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Hosseini
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX1 3PH United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Ye
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Fan
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX1 3PH United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Zhengyu
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: He
authors.affiliation: Nanoworld Services GmbH, Schottkystraβe 10, 91058 Erlangen Germany.
authors.forename: Oliver
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Krause
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX1 3PH United Kingdom.
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hutchison
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX1 3PH United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Jamie H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Warner
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX1 3PH United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Harish
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Bhaskaran