Fig. 1.

Multifunctional and ultrastable graphene support design. (A) The gold-on-gold support comprises a 3-mm disc of gold mesh with 300 lines per inch where an $\simeq$500-Å-thick gold foil with a regular array of submicron-sized holes is suspended across the square openings in the mesh. A graphene monolayer is deposited on top of the gold foil, covering all holes. The graphene can be covalently functionalized by exposure to a low-energy helium plasma containing hydrocarbon precursor molecules (red and blue circles represent different functional groups). The specimen is applied to the graphene side of the grid and is vitrified to form a continuous ice layer which can be imaged through the holes. (B) A grid square is covered by the suspended graphene film (secondary electron micrograph). (Scale bar, 10 $\mathrm{\mu }$m.) Insets show a completely covered hole (Upper) and a hole with broken graphene (Lower), both magnified 5$\times$. (Scale bar, 1 $\mathrm{\mu }$m.) (C) A single growth and transfer batch yields more than 150 graphene-coated all-gold grids with $>$95% coverage. (Scale bar, 10 mm.)