Patent ID: 7279085

Claim:
A method comprising the steps of: a) providing a nanoporous AAO template comprising nanopores that extend down to a first substrate-supported conductive layer on which the nanoporous AAO template resides; b) filling the nanopores with nanopore filler comprising a first dielectric material to form a filled nanoporous AAO template; c) depositing a layer of a second dielectric material on top of the filled nanoporous AAO template; d) depositing a second conductive layer of conductive material on top of the layer of second dielectric material; e) depositing a layer of patternable material on top of the second conductive layer and patterning the patternable material with patterning techniques that selectively remove regions of the patternable material; f) etching, in regions where the patternable material was removed, through the second conductive layer and the layer of second dielectric material to create vias, and further etching the first dielectric material in such regions to remove the nanopore filler; and g) electrochemically-depositing nanorod emitters in the nanopores to yield at least one gated nanorod field emission device.