Patent ID: 7491628

Claim:
A method of controllably patterning a plurality of nanofeatures comprising: providing a plurality of nanofeatures anchored on at least one end to a substrate; disposing a quantity of a fluid onto at least a portion of the plurality of nanofeatures; flowing the fluid onto the plurality of nanofeatures such that the fluid penetrates between the plurality of nanofeatures; and controllably dissipating the fluid from the plurality of nanofeatures such that the nanofeatures are reoriented by the capillary forces of the dissipating fluid to form a plurality of repeating nanostructures from the reoriented nanofeatures, wherein the size and optionally at least one of the density and shape of the nanostructures are determined by controlling the rate at which the fluid dissipates from the substrate and by selecting the surface tension of the dissipating fluid.