US Patent 7635518 - Dendritic magnetic nanostructures

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7635518.html

Magnetic nanostructures have potential uses in high density data storage and high resolution sensors. This patent from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette teaches a method to form such nanostructures with a reduction in aggregation. Claim 1 reads:

1. A magnetic nanostructure comprised of an assembly of magnetic nanorods held together in a dendritic pattern by dipole interaction, wherein each nanorod is comprised of a chain of ferrite nanoparticles, wherein each ferrite nanoparticle is comprised of nickel ferrite, which ferrite nanoparticles are held together by magnetic forces.