US Patent 8173060 - Manufacturing directional conductivity nanocomposite

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/8173060.html

This patent from Empire Technology Development teaches a way to assemble metal nanorods to create anisotropic electrical or thermal conductivity in materials which may be useful to electronics packaging. Claim 1 reads:

1. A method for manufacturing a directional conductivity nanocomposite material, comprising:

placing a nanorod deposit on a gel;

applying either an electrical or a magnetic field through the gel to the nanorod deposit effective to move nanorods of the nanorod deposit to a desired position in the gel;

reinforcing the nanorods in the desired position;

removing the gel; and

flowing a supporting material around the nanorods to surround and support the nanorods in the desired position effective to manufacture the directional conductivity nanocomposite material.