US Patent 7402736 - Scanning probe with nanotube tip grown from FET

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7402736.html

Scanning probe microscopes are important tools for molecular and nanoscale characterization. This patent from Postech Foundation of S.Korea teaches a method of fabricating the tip of a scanning probe microscope from a carbon nanotube grown on a field effect transistor for producing a sharper tip with increased measurement speed. Claim 1 reads:

1. A method for fabricating a probe having a field effect transistor channel structure, comprising:

a) fabricating a field effect transistor;

b) forming a seed electrode for growing a carbon nanotube at a top portion of a gate electrode formed on the field effect transistor; and

c) growing the carbon nanotube on the seed electrode.