Fabrication of Arrays of Gold Islands on Self-Assembled Monolayers Using Pulsed Laser Deposition through Nanosieves

Sandwich structures of gold−self-assembled monolayer−gold were prepared by deposition of gold on alkylthiolate self-assembled monolayers on polycrystalline gold, using pulsed laser deposition (PLD) through a nanosieve. The arrays of sandwiches, around 600 nm in diameter, approximately 10 nm high, and spaced 1.6 μm apart, were analyzed using tapping mode atomic force microscopy. Electrochemical copper deposition experiments showed that of the islands deposited on octadecanethiolate monolayers about 15% were electrically insulated from the bottom gold electrode. This means that PLD is a suitable technique for the fabrication of metal−SAM−metal sandwich structures.