Synthesis of few-layered graphene by ion implantation of carbon in nickel thin films.

The synthesis of few-layered graphene is performed by ion implantation of carbon species in thin nickel films, followed by high temperature annealing and quenching. Although ion implantation enables a precise control of the carbon content and of the uniformity of the in-plane carbon concentration in the Ni films before annealing, we observe thickness non-uniformities in the synthesized graphene layers after high temperature annealing. These non-uniformities are probably induced by the heterogeneous distribution/topography of the graphene nucleation sites on the Ni surface. Taken altogether, our results indicate that the number of graphene layers on top of Ni films is controlled by the nucleation process on the Ni surface rather than by the carbon content in the Ni film.

Grafting a monolayer of superparamagnetic cyanide-bridged coordination nanoparticles on Si(100).

The grafting of a monolayer of 6 nm superparamagnetic cyanide-bridged CsNiCr nanoparticles was achieved on a Ni(II)-functionalized Si(100) substrate; magnetic studies reveals that the grafted nanoparticles are nearly magnetically isolated within the monolayer.

A new approach to grafting a monolayer of oriented Mn12 nanomagnets on silicon.

The functionalisation of a Si(100) silicon wafer allows for the oriented grafting of a monolayer of Mn12 nanomagnets using a two-step procedure.