1. A method of making carbon nanotubes, comprising:
providing a substrate containing a plurality of oxide template structures having at least a portion covered by a masking material;
providing a nanotube source gas onto the plurality of oxide template structures; and
selectively growing the carbon nanotubes on an exposed portion of each of the oxide template structures but not on exposed portions of the substrate and not on portions of the oxide template structures covered by the masking material;
wherein the step of selectively growing the carbon nanotubes comprises simultaneously growing carbon nanotubes of a different length by providing the nanotube source gas for a sufficient time to allow the carbon nanotubes growing on the exposed portion of each oxide template structure to contact the masking material covering the covered portion of an adjacent template structure.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of providing a nanotube source gas comprises providing a nanotube forming precursor gas and a nanotube growth catalyst gas to selectively grow the carbon nanotubes directly on an exposed portion of each of the oxide template structures.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein carbon nanotubes which contact the adjacent template structure are shorter than carbon nanotubes growing from the same template structure which do not contact the adjacent template structure.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein the nanotube source gas is provided for a sufficient time to allow the carbon nanotubes growing on the at least one exposed side surface of a first template structure to contact the masking material of an adjacent second template structure to form a nanotube bridge between the first template structure and the second structure.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein:
upper surfaces of the template structures are covered by the masking material; and
the carbon nanotubes selectively grow on at least one exposed side surface of the template structures parallel to an upper surface of the substrate.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein the masking material comprises polysilicon or a metal which inhibits growth of carbon nanotubes.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein the oxide template structures comprise silicon oxide template structures.
8. The method of claim 7, wherein the silicon oxide template structures comprise silicon dioxide template structures.
9. The method of claim 1, wherein the oxide template structures comprise metal oxide template structures.
10. The method of claim 9, wherein the metal oxide template structures are selected from aluminum oxide, magnesium oxide and indium tin oxide template structures.
11. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of providing a nanotube source gas comprises providing a ferrocene and xylenes containing source gas.
12. The method of claim 1, wherein:
the masking material comprises polysilicon or a metal which inhibits growth of carbon nanotubes; and
the carbon nanotubes are not grown on the masking material.
13. A method of making carbon nanotubes, comprising:
providing a substrate containing an oxide template structure having at least a portion covered by a masking material;
providing a nanotube source gas onto the template structure; and
selectively growing the carbon nanotubes on an exposed portion of the oxide template structure but not on exposed portions of the substrate;
wherein the step of selectively growing the carbon nanotubes comprises simultaneously growing the carbon nanotubes of a first length on an exposed portion of the template structure and growing nanotubes of a second length less than the first length on the masking material.
14. The method of claim 13, wherein:
upper surface of the template structure is covered by the masking material; and
the carbon nanotubes selectively grow on at least one exposed side surface of the template structure parallel to an upper surface of the substrate.
15. The method of claim 13, wherein the step of selectively growing the carbon nanotubes comprises selectively growing the carbon nanotubes on the exposed portion of the template structure but not on exposed portions of the substrate.
16. The method of claim 13, wherein the oxide template structure comprises a silicon oxide template structure.
17. The method of claim 13, wherein the oxide template structure comprises a metal oxide template structure.
18. The method of claim 17, wherein the metal oxide template structure is selected from aluminum oxide, magnesium oxide and indium tin oxide template structure.
19. The method of claim 13, wherein the step of providing a nanotube source gas comprises providing a ferrocene and xylenes containing source gas.
20. The method of claim 13, wherein the masking material comprises a discontinuous layer of a material which inhibits growth of carbon nanotubes.
21. The method of claim 20, wherein the masking material comprises a metal which has a thickness at which it has a discontinuous island morphology.
22. The method of claim 21, further comprising providing additional masking material on which nanotubes do not grow.
23. The method of claim 21, wherein the masking material has a plurality of portions of different thickness such that carbon nanotubes of a plurality of different lengths are grown on the masking material.
24. The method of claim 13, wherein the step of providing a nanotube source gas comprises providing a nanotube forming precursor gas and a nanotube growth catalyst gas to selectively grow the carbon nanotubes directly on an exposed portion of the oxide template structure.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A mobile device, comprising:
a base portion that includes a guide base;
a slider portion that includes a sliding plate, wherein the slider portion is slidably engaged with the base portion and moves relative to the base portion; and
a cover plate that is slidably engaged with the guide base of the base portion and the sliding plate of the slider portion, wherein the cover plate is configured to selectively cover a slot defined in the sliding plate;
wherein when the slider portion moves from a closed position to an open position, the cover plate moves in substantially the same direction as the slider portion due to a friction coefficient between the cover plate and the sliding plate being greater than a friction coefficient between the cover plate and the guide base.
2. The mobile device according to claim 1, wherein the cover plate is further configured to transition from a compressed state to a release state as the slider portion moves from the closed position to the open position.
3. The mobile device according to claim 2, wherein the cover plate further comprises one or more flexible connectors that cause the cover plate to move from the compressed state to the release state, and when the cover plate is in the release state, the cover plate is substantially flush with surfaces of the sliding plate that surround the slot of the sliding plate.
4. The mobile device according to claim 3, wherein the cover plate includes a body and one or more legs and the flexible connectors connect the body with the legs.
5. The mobile device according to claim 4, wherein the guide base includes one or more rails and the cover plate includes one or more corresponding fins that are positioned on the legs, wherein the fins engage the rails and slide along the rails as the cover plate and the slider portion move in the same direction.
6. The mobile device according to claim 2, wherein the cover plate and the slider portion move in an x-direction when the slider portion moves from the closed position to the open position and the cover plate also moves in a y-direction when the slider portion moves from the closed position to the open position, wherein the x-direction and the y-direction are substantially perpendicular to one another.
7. The mobile device according to claim 1, wherein the guide base also defines a slot and the slot of the sliding plate and the slot of the guide base are configured to receive a flexible circuit.
8. The mobile device according to claim 1, wherein the cover plate includes a plastic section and a metal section and the friction coefficient between the plastic section of the cover plate and the sliding plate is greater than the friction coefficient between the metal section of the cover plate and the guide base.
9. The mobile device according to claim 8, wherein the plastic section includes a beveled edge and the sliding plate also includes a beveled edge, wherein the beveled edge of the sliding plate contacts and pushes the beveled edge of the cover plate when the slider portion is moved back to the closed position.
10. The mobile device according to claim 1, wherein the slider portion includes a display and the base portion includes a keypad, wherein the keypad is hidden when the slider portion is in the closed position.
11. A mobile device, comprising:
a base portion;
a slider portion that is slidably engaged with the base portion, wherein the slider portion moves from a closed position to an open position to provide operator access to a user interface component of the base portion;
a sliding plate that is part of the slider portion, wherein the sliding plate includes an exposable surface defining a slot, wherein the sliding plate moves along with the slider portion from the closed position to the open position; and
a cover plate, wherein the cover plate is engaged with the sliding plate such that the cover plate moves along with the sliding plate;
wherein the cover plate moves from a compressed state to a release state when the sliding plate moves to the open position such that the cover plate is substantially flush with the exposable surface of the sliding plate when the cover plate is in the release state.
12. The mobile device according to claim 11, wherein the base portion includes a guide base and the cover plate includes a body and one or more legs, wherein the body is in contact with the sliding plate and the legs are in contact with the guide base.
13. The mobile device according to claim 12, wherein a friction coefficient between the body and the sliding plate is greater than a friction coefficient between the legs and the guide base.
14. The mobile device according to claim 13, wherein the cover plate further includes one or more flexible connectors that connect the body with the legs and the flexible connectors assist in moving the cover plate from the compressed state to the release state.
15. The mobile device according to claim 14, wherein the flexible connectors are positioned at a non-orthogonal angle with respect to the body and the legs.
16. The mobile device according to claim 12, wherein the body and the legs are made of metal and at least part of the metal of the body is covered with plastic.
17. The mobile device according to claim 11, further comprising a flexible circuit that is connected to both the base portion and the slider portion and wherein the cover plate at least partially covers the flexible circuit when the slider portion is in the open position.
18. A method of operating a mobile device, comprising:
sliding a slider portion of the mobile device relative to a base portion from a closed position to an open position;
sliding a cover plate along with the slider portion by overcoming a friction coefficient between the cover plate and a guide base of the base portion but not overcoming a friction coefficient between the cover plate and a sliding plate of the slider portion; and
moving the cover plate from a compressed state to a release state as the slider portion moves to the open position such that the cover plate is substantially flush with surfaces of the sliding plate.
19. The method according to claim 18, further comprising accessing a keypad that is part of the base portion.
20. The method according to claim 18, further comprising sliding the slider portion back to the closed position and moving the cover plate back to a compressed state.