US Patent 7335259 - Si nanowire growth using supercritical fluid

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7335259.html

Common nanowire growth methodologies include a vapor-liquid-solid (VLS) processes in growth occurs due to condensation followed by precipitation. This process teaches an alternative approach for producing straighter and more uniform nanowires which uses a supercritical fluid in which the fluid which is above a critical point so that it has both both liquid and vapor properties. Claim 1 reads:

1. A process for growing crystalline Group IV metal nanowires comprising:
providing a substrate comprising catalyst sites attached to the substrate surface, and continuously reacting the catalyst sites with a supercritical fluid mixture comprising at least one Group IV metal precursor, whereby crystalline Group IV metal nanowires grow from the catalyst sites.