US Patent 7875920 - Radially projecting vertical nanowire array

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7875920.html

It has been suggested to use nanotubes and nanowires to increase the surface area of electrodes and form capacitors having a high charge storage density. This patent from Samsung teaches a variation of this idea in which an array of nanowires or nanotubes are formed to spread apart from their base in order to more efficiently use the electrode area. Claim 1 reads:   

1. A semiconductor device comprising:

a lower electrode having a plurality of tubes or wires on a semiconductor substrate;

a dielectric layer on the surface of the lower electrode;

an upper electrode on the surface of the dielectric layer,

wherein each of the plurality of tubes or wires radiate outwardly from one another centering on the lower portion of the plurality of tubes or wires.