US Patent 7764004 - Bent nanostructure clumps

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7764004.html

This patent from Alcatel-Lucent teaches a manufacturing technique for tunable nanostructured clumps which may be used in various applications including diffraction gratings and diagnostics of biological cells. Claim 1 reads:

1. An apparatus, comprising:

a substrate having a surface;

a plurality of nanostructures each having a first end and a second end,

wherein the first end of each of the plurality of nanostructures is attached to the surface; and

wherein at least a portion of the second ends of the plurality of nanostructures are bent toward one another to form two or more similarly configured clumps, each of the two or more similarly configured clumps including two or more nanostructures.