US Patent 8129768 - Nanowire integrated circuit for display device

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/8129768.html

This patent is based on a collaboration between Sharp and Nanosys and teaches a way to construct integrated circuitry for display devices by combining different types of nanowires (i.e. p-type, n-type) to construct different electronic devices (transistors, LEDs, etc.) on the same substrate. Claim 1 reads:

1. An integrated circuit device, comprising

a substrate on which a plurality of nano wire elements are provided,

said plurality of nano wire elements including at least two types of nano wire element having different functions,

each of said at least two types of nano wire element being constituted by 10 to 200 nano wires,

each of said at least two types of nano wire element is constituted by nano wires, and the nano wires have lengths differing depending on the types of nano wire element, and

placement regions having different longitudinal lengths corresponding to different lengths of different types of nano wire are provided on the substrate, and

each of the placement regions includes nano wires having a corresponding length therein in rows.

US Patent 8089152 - Graded permittivity dielectrics using nanostructures

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/8089152.html

One of the ways to extend Moore's Law is to find new dielectrics with higher permittivity in place of the silicon dioxide used as the gate insulator of MOSFETs. This patent from Nanosys teaches an interesting technique to engineer dielectric material using nanostructures to provide a graded permittivity. Claim 1 reads:

1. A memory gate stack comprising a graded artificial dielectric, comprising:

(a) a dielectric material;

(b) a first region within the dielectric material with a plurality of nanostructures having one or more characteristics embedded therein; and

(c) a second region within the dielectric material with a plurality of nanostructures having one or more characteristics embedded therein;

wherein at least one of the one or more nanostructure characteristics is spatially varied from the first region to the second region, wherein the spatial variance is gradual and consistent from the first region to the second region.

US Patent 8025960 - Nanofiber adhesive for bandages

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/8025960.html

This latest patent from Nanosys applies nanofiber coatings as an anti-bacterial dry adhesive for bandages. Claim 1 reads:

1. A bandage, comprising:

a flexible porous substrate having a plurality of apertures disposed therethrough, the porous substrate having an overall surface that includes an interior wall surface of the apertures and an exterior surface of the substrate; and

a plurality of nanofibers deposited upon or attached to at least a portion of the overall surface of the porous substrate, wherein at least a portion of the nanofibers are attached to or deposited upon the exterior surface of the substrate and at least a portion of the nanofibers are attached to the interior wall surface area of the plurality of apertures, whereby when the bandage is applied to a wound, the nanofibers attached to the exterior surface of the substrate provide adhesion to surface tissues adjacent to the wound or to an opposing side of the substrate.

US Patent 7985454 - Low cost nanowire growth

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7985454.html

This latest patent from Nanosys teaches a method which may bring mass production of nanowire devices closer to the mainstream. Claim 1 reads:

1. A method to produce a catalytic-coated nanowire growth substrate for nanowire growth, comprising:

(a) depositing a buffer layer on a substrate;

(b) treating the buffer layer with boiled water or steam following the depositing in step (a) to enhance interactions between the buffer layer and catalyst particles; and

(c) depositing catalytic particles on a surface of the buffer layer following the treating in step (b).

US Patents 7977007 and 7977013 - Nanowire based membrane electrode assemblies for fuel cells

These two latest patents from Nanosys includes basic claims covering nanowire structures used to enhance the efficiency of fuel cells.

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7977007.html

1. A nanostructured catalyst support for a membrane electrode assembly of a fuel cell comprising an interconnected network of nanowires each having a metal catalyst deposited thereon wherein the catalyst metal comprises nanoparticles having a diameter less than about 10 nm, wherein the nanowire network defines a plurality of pores between the nanowires in the network, wherein the plurality of pores have an effective pore size of less than about 10 microns.

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7977013.html

1. A nanowire for use in a fuel cell wherein the nanowire comprises a core which comprises silicon and at least one shell layer which comprises silicon carbide (SiC) having a catalyst metal and/or proton conducting coating deposited thereon.

US Patent 7972616 - Nanostructured adhesive bandage

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7972616.html

This patent from Nanosys covers some biomedical innovations of nanotechnology providing a possible substitute for suturing with enhanced wound healing possibilities. Claim 1 reads:

1. A wound dressing comprising:

a plurality of nanostructures; and

a bandage that includes a fibrous web, wherein at least a portion of the plurality of nanostructures are incorporated within or associated with the fibrous web;

wherein at least a portion of the plurality of nanostructures include at least one coating material, wherein the nanostructures including the coating material are wholly or partially coated with the at least one coating material, and wherein a surface of the bandage is capable of adhering to a biological tissue surface due at least to van der Waals forces between at least a portion of the plurality of nanostructures and the biological tissue surface.

US Patent 7968474 - Nanowire alignment and deposition

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7968474.html

This patent is co-owned by Sharp and Nanosys and includes some basic claim to the alignment of nanowires during deposition. Claim 1 reads:


1. A method for positioning one or more nanowires, comprising

(a) providing one or more nanowires proximate to an electrode pair;

(b) energizing the electrode pair by generating an AC electric field between the electrode pair, whereby the nanowires become associated with the electrode pair; and

(c) modulating the energizing of the electrode pair by adjusting the frequency of the AC electric field, adjusting the amplitude of the AC electric field, or both, whereby the nanowires become coupled onto the electrode pair.

US Patent 7939218 - Nanowire with carbon layer

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7939218.html

This patent from Nanosys teaches using carbon coated nanowire materials to increase the efficiency of membrane electrodes for fuel cells. Claim 1 reads:

1. A nanowire comprising a carbon-based layer, wherein the carbon-based layer is substantially devoid of basal plane carbon.

US Patent 7932511 - Large area nanowire arrays

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7932511.html

This patent is from Nanosys and includes some very broad claims covering aligned nanowires deposited over a wide area surface which may be applicable to future display and sensing electronics. Claim 1 reads:

1. An article, comprising a population of nanowires disposed over a surface of a substrate, wherein:

the population of nanowires is substantially oriented in a first direction; and the surface of the substrate has an area of greater than 10 cm2.

US Patent 7917298 - Nanocrystal taggants

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7917298.html

This patent from Nanosys has relatively early priority (2003) and includes some basic claims to  using quantum dots to create invisible bar codes for inventory control. Claim 1 reads:

1. A composition for tagging objects, comprising:

a population of nanocrystals comprising two or more subsets of nanocrystals, the population characterized by a unique spectral code;

wherein each said subset comprises a plurality of quantum dots of the same size and/or the same composition;

wherein the unique spectral code of the population comprises at least one optical property defined by the interaction of the emission frequency of at least the first nanocrystal subset and the emission frequency of at least the second nanocrystal subset.

US Patent 7892610 - Applying aligned nanowires with a printhead

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7892610.html

This is the latest patent from Nanosys which covers a method of patterning aligned nanowires with a specialized printhead in order to create electronic and photovoltaic devices. Claim 2 reads:

2. A method for transferring nanowires to a destination surface, comprising:

providing at least one nanowire proximate to an electrode pair;

generating an electric field with electrodes of the electrode pair to associate the at least one nanowire with the electrodes;

aligning the electrode pair with a region of the destination surface; and depositing the at least one nanowire from the electrode pair to the region.

US Patent 7851841 - Core/shell nanowire transistor

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7851841.html

This latest patent from Nanosys has relatively early priority (Sep. 30, 2002) and includes some basic claims to field effect transistors formed from core-shell nanowires. Claim 1 reads:

1. A semiconductor device comprising:

a substrate;

a plurality of nanowires deposited or formed on the substrate, wherein said nanowires each comprise a core made of a first material and at least a first shell layer made of a second material disposed about said core, wherein said second material is made from a high dielectric constant material; and

at least a first source contact and a first drain contact formed in or on the substrate providing electrical connectivity to the plurality of nanowires, wherein the nanowires each form an individual channel between said at least first source and drain contacts.

US Patent 7842432 - Nanowire diffusion control barrier for fuel cells

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7842432.html

This patent from Nanosys teaches a fuel cell membrane formed from a mixture of semiconductor nanowires and graphene. Claim 2 reads:

2. A fuel cell comprising

a fuel source,

a proton exchange membrane,

an anode electrode,

a cathode electrode and

a diffusion-controlling barrier comprising an interconnected network of nanowires, wherein fuel concentration at the proton exchange membrane is less than about 30% of that of the fuel source.

US Patent 7829351 - Transfer coating of nanostructures

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7829351.html

This patent from Nanosys has some relatively early priority (9/25/2003) and includes some basic claims to transferring films of nanofibers or semiconductor nanowires to a substrate. Claim 1 reads:

1. A method, comprising:

forming a plurality of nanostructures on a transfer substrate;

providing a receiving substrate which comprises one or more selected regions of an adherent material;

mating the transfer substrate with the receiving substrate wherein the nanostructures adhere to the one or more selected regions during the mating step; and

separating the transfer substrate from the receiving substrate to leave a population of nanostructures adhered to the receiving substrate.

US Patent 7803574 - Medical device applications of nanostructured surfaces

http://ip.com/patent/US7803574

This latest patent from Nanosys teaches a way to enhance the resistance to bacterial growth of implantable medical devices using nanofibrous coatings. Claim 1 reads:

1. A method of administering a composition to a patient, comprising:

providing a composition-eluting device, said composition-eluting device comprising at least a first surface and a plurality of nanostructures attached to the first surface, wherein:

the plurality of nanostructures comprise nanofibers and/or nanotubes; and

introducing the composition-eluting device into the body of the patient.

US Patent 7754524 - Oriented nanowire thin film electronics

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7754524.html

This is the latest patent from Nanosys covering electronics and optical devices formed from nanowire thin films. Claim 1 reads:

1. An article, comprising:

a substrate having a first surface;

a polymeric adherent material disposed on the first surface; and

a plurality of nanostructures each comprising a major axis, disposed on the first surface, and adhered to the adherent material, the plurality of nanostructures being substantially oriented so that their individual lengths are disposed substantially parallel to the first surface of the substrate along a common axis of the substrate.

US Patent 7745498 - Oxidized nanowires

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7745498.html

In order to form transistor structures using nanostructured materials a reliable method is required to generate the dielectric oxides with respect to the nanochannel. This patent from Nanosys includes some basic claims to oxidized silicon nanowires. Claim 1 reads:

1. A nanowire dispersion composition comprising

a plurality of nanowires comprising silicon suspended in an aqueous or non-aqueous solution comprising at least one low molecular weight dispersant,

wherein the nanowires include a thermally grown oxide layer on an outermost surface of the nanowires, wherein the thermally grown oxide layer is formed in addition to any oxide layer resulting from synthesis of the nanowires.

US Patent 7741197 - Reduced contamination deposition of nanowires

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7741197.html

In order to enable silicon nanowires electronics it is necessary to provide integration techniques resulting in devices with uniform and reproducible characteristics. This latest patent from Nanosys teaches one method of nanowire deposition designed to improve the device consistency for mass production. Claim 1 reads:

1. A process for depositing nanowires onto a substrate surface which comprises at least one pair of electrodes, comprising:

(a) placing at least a portion of the substrate surface into contact with a fluid suspension of nanowires;

(b) moving the fluid suspension and/or the substrate surface relative to one another; and

(c) applying an electric field between the at least one pair of electrodes to electrostatically deposit one or more of the nanowires on the substrate surface and align the one or more nanowires between the pair of electrodes so that each said electrostatically deposited one or more nanowires spans the pair of electrodes.

US Patent 7701428 - Integrated display including nanowire selection transistors

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7701428.html

Flat panel displays currently use thin film transistor technology in the selection of pixels. However, the use of thin film silicon produces limitations on the size and weight of the displays. This patent from Nanosys teaches forming nanowire transistors to enable new types of displays using plastic and flexible materials. Claim 1 reads:

1. An active matrix backplane used within a display, comprising:

a plurality of pixels;

a plurality of column transistors, wherein a column transistor within said plurality of column transistors applies a voltage across a subset of a plurality of pixel transistors;

a plurality of row transistors, wherein at least two row transistors within said plurality of row transistors turns a corresponding pixel transistor on and off;

a plurality of pixel transistors, wherein a pixel transistor within said plurality of pixel transistors controls a corresponding pixel within said plurality of pixels; and

edge electronics that control one or more of said column transistors, said row transistors, and said pixel transistors, wherein said edge electronics comprises a plurality of nanowire transistors each comprising a plurality of nanowires extending between a first source electrode and a first drain electrode of the transistor.

US Patent 7667296 - Semiconductor nanowire capacitor

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7667296.html

A variety of approaches have been suggested in the last few years to incorporate nanostructures into capacitive structures to increase energy storage and integration density. This patent from Nanosys has relatively early priority (3/23/2004) and teaches using semiconductor nanowires to form varactor diode capacitor structures for use in tuning oscillators and filters. Claim 1 reads:

1. A capacitor device, comprising:

a substrate;

a semiconductor nanowire, supported by the substrate, wherein the nanowire has a length and a diameter thereby defining a surface;

an insulator formed on at least a portion of the surface;

an outer coaxial conductor formed on a least a portion of the insulator and configured to be in physical contact with a region of the nanowire; and

an electrical contact coupled to the nanowire.