Patent ID: 8795772

Claim:
A method of producing nano-pads of catalytic metal for growing Single Walled Carbon Nanotubes (SWCNT), said method comprising depositing, within an original opening in a photo-resist deposited on a substrate, said original opening defining a two-dimensional surface area on the substrate where the photoresist is absent, a catalytic metal from a catalytic metal source positioned at an angle relative to a direction normal to the two dimensional surface area of the opening in the photo-resist, so as to create a nano-pad of catalytic metal within the opening and on the substrate, said nanopad having a two-dimensional area smaller than the two-dimensional surface area of said original opening, wherein the walls of said original opening in the photo-resist serve as a shadow mask for the angled deposition of said nano-pads of the catalytic metal, said angle and the said walls of said original opening controlling the two-dimensional area of the nano-pads within one corner of the original opening.