US Patent 7960251 - Producing nanowires using a porous template

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7960251.html

This patent from Samsung teaches a way to simplify mass production of vertical nanowire arrays using metal oxide or polymer templates. Claim 1 reads:

1. A method for producing nanowires, comprising the steps of:

(a) providing a porous template with a plurality of tubes, wherein each tube has an associated hole;

(b) filling the tubes with nanoparticles or nanoparticle precursors; and

(c) forming the filled nanoparticles or nanoparticle precursors into nanowires,

wherein step (c) is carried out by heating the filled nanoparticles or nanoparticle precursors to above the melting point of the nanoparticles or nanoparticle precursors, via electrical resistance heating or mechanical pressurization, to form agglomerates of the nanoparticles or the nanoparticle precursors.