UCLA researchers found the way to form GNR by Si-NW etching mask!!

I have to say this is really a brilliant idea to form a GNR by simply applying the nanowire as a mask.

Two groups from UCLA, lead by Yu Huang and Xiangfeng Duan, published this work in Nano Letters

http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/nl900531n

I think it is very suitable for us to produce GNR in this way, since we have plenty of Si nanowires. In order to test it, I try to disperse Si nanowires by suspending them in an enthanolic solution. I found that it is hard to control the distribution and orientation of nanowires. Even though the nanowire has been deposit on the top of graphene, it is no guarantee that the nanowire would firmly contact the graphene to the extent that is able to protect the underlying graphene, which is hard to verify as well.

I think I would try to use some physical ways to deposit the nanowire if I have time to test it.