US Patent 7932543 - Zigzag nanowire crossbar

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7932543.html

Nanowire crossbar arrays can be more sensitive to stress during manufacture due to small wire diameters which leads to broken or damaged wires. This patent from Samsung teaches a nanowire array using a zigzag arrangement to avoid this problem. Claim 1 reads:

1. A wire structure including at least one first wire, wherein the at least one first wire comprises:

a first region having a width of several to tens of nanometers; and

a second region disposed at both ends of the first region and having a width wider than that of the first region,

wherein the second region is configured to prevent the first region from at least one of bending and breaking due to a stress, the wire structure includes a plurality of first wires in parallel, and ends on one side of the plurality of the first wires are offset from one another and are in a zigzag pattern.