US Patent 7741647 - Random nanowire array bridge

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7741647.html

Much of the early research in silicon nanowires has emerged from Charles Lieber's group at Harvard and Nanosys which has begun turning the basic research into commercial reality. However, HPLabs has also contributed to some basic nanowire research. This latest patent teaches a lateral growth method for nanowire arrays to form structures useful for solar cells. Claim 1 reads:

1. An apparatus comprising:

a substrate comprising a non-single crystal surface that enables crystalline nanowire growth and wherein said substrate is electrically conductive;

a plurality of crystalline nanowires crystallographically attached to said non-single crystal surface of said substrate, wherein said plurality of crystalline nanowires are randomly oriented on said non-single crystal surface; and

an electrode coupled to at least one crystalline nanowire of said plurality of crystalline nanowires, wherein said plurality of crystalline nanowires are electrically conductive or optically active.