Patent ID: 7105052

Claim:
A method of making an ordered array of magnetized nanorods, the method comprising: electroforming a plurality of relatively high aspect ratio nanorods wherein each individual nanorod includes a portion electroformed of gold and a portion electroformed of nickel; modifying the plurality of nanorods so that in each individual nanorod the gold portion is modified to become hydrophobic and the nickel portion is modified to become hydrophilic; dispersing the plurality of modified nanorods on an interface between an aqueous phase and a non-aqueous phase so that each individual nanorod orients having the hydrophilic nickel portion in the aqueous phase extending away from the interface in a relatively perpendicular direction therefrom and having the hydrophobic gold portion in the non-aqueous phase extending away from the interface in a relatively perpendicular direction therefrom; and self-assembling the plurality of dispersed nanorods by adjusting ionic content in the aqueous phase so as to sufficiently control repulsive forces between individual nanorods of the plurality of nanorods to thereby promote self-assembly of the plurality of nanorods into an ordered array wherein substantially all individual nanorods of the plurality are aligned generally parallel with each other along the interface.