US Patent 8143144 - Nanowire hetero-growth

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/8143144.html

This patent from Panasonic teaches a way to manufacture silicon nanowires having regions of different dopant concentration for thin film transistor used in flat-panel displays. Claim 1 reads:

1. A method for fabricating a semiconductor nanowire that has first and second regions, the method comprising:

putting a catalyst particle on a substrate;

growing the first region from the catalyst particle with a vapor-liquid-solid phase (VLS) grower;

forming a protective coating on a sidewall of the first region; and

growing the second region extending from the first region with the VLS grower.