US Patent 7422980 - Oriented nanowires as electrical interconnect

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7422980.html

This patent from Nanosys covers the fabrication of nanowire based sensors or electronics via nanowire deposition and orientation between closely spaced electrodes. Claim 1 reads:

1. A method of making a nanowire based device, comprising:

depositing a plurality of nanowires on at least a first region of a surface of a substrate; and

forming at least first and second electrical contacts on the first region of the surface of the substrate such that at least first and second nanowires of the plurality of nanowires are positioned in contact with both the first and second electrical contacts,

wherein the nanowires are made from a material selected from the group comprising Si, Ge, Sn, Se, Te, P, Si—C, Si—Ge, Si—Sn, Ge—Sn, SiC, AlN/AlP/AlAs/AlSb, GaN/GaP/GaAs/GaSb, InN/InP/InAs/InSb, AlN/AlP/AlAs/AlSb, GaN/GaP/GaAs/GaSb, InN/InP/InAs/InSb, ZnO/ZnS/ZnSe/ZnTe, CdS/CdSe/CdTe, HgS/HgSe/HgTe, BeS/BeSe/BeTe/MgS/MgSe, GeS, GeSe, GeTe, SnS, SnSe, SnTe, PbO, PbS, PbSe, PbTe, CuF, CuCl, CuBr, CuI, AgF, AgCl, AgBr, AgI, BeSiN2, CaCN2, ZnGeP2, CdSnAs2, ZnSnSb2, CuGeP3, CuSi2P3, (Cu, Ag)(Al, Ga, In, Tl, Fe)(S, Se, Te)2, Si3N4, Ge3N4, Al2O3, (Al, Ga, In)2(S, Se, Te)3, or Al2CO or alloys thereof,

wherein the first and second electrical contacts are separated from each other on the first surface of the substrate by a distance that is less than 50% of an average length of the first and second nanowires.