Nanoscale lines of supported nanogold particles and lysozyme-nanogold conjugates generated by atomic force microscopy in aqueous solution

The line-scan mode is applied in aqueous suspensions of NHS-nanogold and NHS - nanogold-lysozyme conjugates to generate tip-induced linelike pattern with a width in the nanometer scale. With increasing ionic strength the spontaneous adsorption of the particles to the mica surface can be reduced. The reduction causes an increase in the processing time, which is necessary to form a continuous line composed of the respective particles. The line width increases with increasing loading force. For NHS-nanogold, a minimal line width of about 40 nm could be achieved. The results were used to connect two opposite macroscopic gold contacts about 5 mu m apart by a line of NHS-nanogold, which appeared to be of continuous structure down to the nanometer scale, according to the corresponding topography. Copyright (C) 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.