Patent ID: 7166325

Claim:
A method of making a device comprising at least one carbon nanotube, the method comprising: disposing a layer of resist on a top surface of a substrate; patterning said layer of resist with holes that expose the underlying substrate; filling said holes with a catalyst material; removing a remainder of said resist and exposing an array of catalyst islands on said substrate, the catalyst islands including catalyst material in said holes; exposing said catalyst islands to a hydrocarbon gas at an elevated temperature, such that individual carbon nanotubes emanate from said catalyst islands and a number of said nanotubes bridge adjacent catalyst islands; breaking all but one nanotube bridging two of said adjacent catalyst islands; and depositing metal electrodes onto said two of said adjacent catalyst islands, such that said metal electrodes fully cover said two of said adjacent catalyst islands and further extend over first and second ends of said one nanotube that are rooted in said two of said adjacent catalyst islands.