Intellectual Property Law

US Patent 7368712 - Functionalized Y-junction carbon nanotube AFM tip

Due to their high-aspect ratio carbon nanotube have been grown on the tips of atomic resolution probes to inspect trench structures more easily. This patent from IBM teaches using a functionalized Y-shaped carbon nanotube as the tip offering additional benefits for chemical detection on the molecular scale. Claim 1 reads:

1. A Y-shaped carbon nanotube atomic force microscope probe tip comprising: a shaft portion; a pair of angled arms extending from a same end of said shaft portion, wherein said shaft portion and said pair of angled arms comprise a chemically modified carbon nanotube, and wherein said chemically modified carbon nanotube is modified with any of an amine, carboxyl, fluorine, and metallic component.

Full post as published by TinytechIP on May 12, 2008 (boomark / email).