Intellectual Property Law

US Patent 7719067 - Vertical nanotube switch

Nantero has been developing prototypes of a variety of micromechanical switching devices based on carbon nanotubes for almost ten years. Originally the focus was on horizontally oriented nanotube crossbar fabrics but in order to increase manufacturing yield vertically oriented nanotubes may be preferable. This is one of Nantero's basic patents for this approach. Claim 1 reads:

1. An nanotube switching device, comprising:

a structure having a major horizontal surface and a channel formed therein, the channel having a vertical wall and first and second electrodes each forming a portion of the vertical wall;

a nanotube article vertically disposed in the channel and in contact with said first and second electrodes, the nanotube article responsive to electrical stimulus to form and unform an electrically conductive pathway between said first and second electrodes.

Full post as published by TinytechIP on May 25, 2010 (boomark / email).