US Patent 7400159 - Nanotube/Nanorod probe card

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7400159.html

In order to test integrated circuits probe cards are often used. However, the resolution of such probe cards is often limited to the pitch of pins making up the probe. This patent teaches using nanotubes or nanorods as the pins for higher resolution addressing of circuitry under testing. Claim 1 reads:

1. A complex nano probe pin comprising:

a bundle of aligned parallel nanotubes/nanorods grown from a patterned catalyst strip on a planar substrate, and

a bonding material bonded to said bundle of aligned parallel nanotubes/nanorods and filled in gaps between said nanotubes/nanorods;

wherein said planar substrate has a porous surface; and wherein said bonding material covers said bundle of aligned parallel nanotubes/nanorods and fills up gaps in between said nanotubes/nanorods.