  Electronic devices based on graphene technology are catching on rapidly and
the ability to engineer graphene properties at the nanoscale is becoming, more
than ever, indispensable. Here, we present a new procedure of graphene
functionalization on SiC(0001) that paves the way towards the fabrication of
complex graphene electronic chips. The procedure resides on the well-known
ion-implantation technique. The efficiency of the working principle is
demonstrated by the intercalation of the epitaxial graphene layer on SiC(0001)
with Bi atoms, which was not possible following standard procedures. Our
results put forward the ion-beam lithography to nanostructure and functionalize
desired graphene chips.
