US Patent 7609432 - Nanowire cantilever

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7609432.html

Cantilever structures are very common to microsensor and microactuator structures used in MEMS. This patent from HP includes some basic claims to using nanowires to form nanoelectromechanical cantilevers. Claim 1 reads:

1. A nanoelectromechanical (NEM) device comprising:

a support block extending vertically from a horizontal surface of a substrate, the support block having a vertical side;

a nanowire extending laterally from the vertical side of the support block, the nanowire being spaced from the horizontal surface of the substrate; and

a component that influences the nanowire.

Although not cited in this patent, a similar nanocantilever based on a carbon nanotube was earlier described in published patent application US2005/0230710.