Carbon Design Innovations Inc. (CDI) of Burlingame, Calif., has announced that it has received a key technology patent for the fabrication of carbon nanotube devices. US Patent No. 7,601,650 was issued Oct. 13, 2009, for a variety of methods and techniques related to fabricating an improved carbon nanotube device such as an atomic force microscopy (AFM) probe. According to the company, this process for coating carbon nanotubes provides CDI with the ability to make stronger, stiffer and more durable AFM probes that are less likely to break if they “crash” during a scan. The company currently offers two carbon nanotube AFM probe types: the standard carbon-core high-aspect ratio and carbon-core high resolution.