US Patent 7649192 - Nanowire array LED grown in silicon microcavities

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7649192.html

Semiconductor nanowire LEDs offers improvements in photoconversion efficiency over present LEDs but fabrication methods are limited in control of the placement of the nanowires on a substrate. This patent from Samsung teaches using microgrooves formed in a silicon wafer to control the growth location of nanowires. Claim 1 reads:

1. A nano wire structure comprising:

a silicon substrate having a surface where microgrooves having a plurality of microcavities are formed itself;

nano wires formed on the substrate from each of the microgrooves; and

a metal catalyst formed on one end of each of the nano wires.