Intellectual Property Law

US Patent 7335259 - Si nanowire growth using supercritical fluid

By blaisemouttet

Common nanowire growth methodologies include a vapor-liquid-solid (VLS) processes in growth occurs due to condensation followed by precipitation. This process teaches an alternative approach for producing straighter and more uniform nanowires which uses a supercritical fluid in which the fluid which is above a critical point so that it has both both liquid and vapor properties. Claim 1 reads:

1. A process for growing crystalline Group IV metal nanowires comprising:
providing a substrate comprising catalyst sites attached to the substrate surface, and continuously reacting the catalyst sites with a supercritical fluid mixture comprising at least one Group IV metal precursor, whereby crystalline Group IV metal nanowires grow from the catalyst sites.

Full post as published by TinytechIP on February 26, 2008 (boomark / email).