US Patent 7453789 - CNT core microtip write/read head

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7453789.html

This patent from the French Atomic Energy Commission teaches forming a carbon nanotube wrapped in an insulating sheath as a read/write needle for ultrahigh density data recording. Claim 1 reads:

1. Data recording device comprising at least one electrically conducting microtip having an end designed to be brought into electric contact with a recording medium, the microtip comprising a longitudinal conducting core having a substantially constant cross-section, device wherein the microtip is surrounded by a sheath made of non-conducting material, so that the free ends of the core and of the sheath are at the same level at the end of the microtip.