Patent ID: 8668833

Claim:
A method of forming a discrete nanostructured element at one or more predetermined locations on a substrate comprising: forming a mask member over said substrate; forming a window in said mask member to expose a portion of a surface of said substrate at each of the one or more locations where said nanostructured element is to be formed; removing a portion of said substrate exposed by said window at said one or more locations to form one or more recesses in said substrate; forming a layer of a nanostructure medium over a surface of said recess and the mask member; and annealing the layer of the nanostructure medium to form said nanostructured element in each of said one or more recesses, said nanostructured element comprising a portion of said nanostructure medium, said nanostructured element having an external dimension along at least two substantially orthogonal directions less than or substantially equal to 100 nm; and removing the mask member after annealing the layer of the nanostructure medium.