US Patent 7838865 - Method for aligning elongated nanostructures

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7838865.html

Last week HP received a patent for self-aligning nanowires deposited via ink drops. This patent from Palo Alto Research is along similar lines using nanowire alignment via a patterned surface. Claim 1 reads:

1. An intermediate structure for forming an electronic device comprising:

a patterned surface; and

an elongated droplet of solution on the patterned surface, the elongated droplet of solution including elongated nanostructures suspended in a carrier solution, the elongated nanostructures approximately aligned lengthwise to correspond to the elongation of the elongated droplet.