Direct transfer of gold nanoislands from a MoS2 stamp to a Si–H surface

A printing technique is proposed for the transfer of metallic nanoislands between two semiconductor surfaces in UHV. For the preparation of the stamp, a systematic study of the growth conditions of small, flat triangular shape Au nanoislands at the top surface of microfabricated MoS2 pillars is presented. Those pillars are organized in a stamping matrix to increase the transfer rate. Up to 10% of Au nanoislands can be transferred to a H-Si(100) surface. The atomic scale quality of the interface between the Au nanoislands and the semiconductor surface is characterized by transmission electron microscopy cross-sectional imaging. This MoS2 stamping technique is extended to other surfaces such as mica, SiO2, and graphite. It permits to handle well shaped Au nanoislands on surfaces where a direct growth of flat nanoislands is not possible. This printing of well defined triangular Au nanoislands offers the unique possibility to construct ultraclean interconnecting nanopad systems by scanning tunneling microscop...