Nanomanipulation of graphene using Atomic Force Microscopy

The numerous electrical and mechanical properties with which graphene possess has paved the way into a new era of research and exploration. With many companies researching synthesization and transportation techniques there is a demand for the research of tailoring techniques for the future mass industrial usage of graphene within electronic devices. As such, we explore the efficiency, speed, and quality of mechanical manipulation by way of Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM). In particular ideal force, speed, and length parameters were determined for cutting monolayer graphene (MO) on a SiO₂ substrate. The ideal force value was determined to be 2.5 μN and ideal length around 150 nm long, with resulting speed relationships producing significant evidence to claim that speed is not a factor in the cutting of MO as long as it remains below a certain threshold velocity, hypothesized to be a result of thermal drift of the AFM cantilever in the Z-axis direction. The overall mechanical manipulation of graphene was then confirmed and an electrode tailored using this technique with said parameters.