Rice University researchers have created a single-atomic-layer deposition using lithography based on the fact that zinc affects graphene.
Researchers made a 100-nanometer line on a sheet of graphene and also printed a micro owl about 15 millionths of a meter wide.
The 100-nanometer line on graphene confirms that the resolution of the metal patterning method has a horizontal limit. James Tour, a chemist at Rice lab, has stated this week in the journal Science that sprinkling zinc onto layers of graphene will ensure the removal of a single layer without affecting the other layers. Researchers hope that the results of this discovery should encourage further development of microcircuitry and other graphene-based devices.
A graphene checkerboard in a three-dimensional pattern was created by researchers during this experiment by removing the horizontal and vertical layers. It was observed that aluminum coated graphene also delivered similar effects. Researchers found that the graphene remained unaffected when zinc was applied using thermal evaporation.
Source: http://www.rice.edu/