US Patent 7757371 - Nanostructured reference leak

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7757371.html

A reference leak is an instrument used as a calibration standard for detecting gas leaks. This patent from Hon Hai Precision teaches a nanostructured version of a reference leak which is less sensitive to temperature variations. Claim 1 reads:

1. A method for making a reference leak, comprising the steps of:

(a) preparing a substrate;

(b) forming a patterned catalyst layer on the substrate, the patterned catalyst layer comprising one or more catalyst blocks, each catalyst block being located at a respective chosen position on the substrate;

(c) forming one or more elongate nano-structures so as to extend from the corresponding catalyst blocks by a deposition method;

(d) forming a leak layer of one of a metallic material, a glass material, a composite material, and a ceramic material on the substrate, the one or more elongate nano-structures being thereby partly or completely embedded within the formed leak layer; and

(e) removing the one or more elongate nano-structures and the substrate to obtain a reference leak with one or more leak holes defined therein, each leak hole being defined by a space previously occupied by a respective one elongate nano-structure.