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October 2007Andrew Rinzler and his former graduate student, Zhihong Chen (now on permanent staff at the IBM T.J. Watson Research Center, Tarrytown, NY) have been awarded United States Patent #7,261,852 titled "Transparent electrodes from single wall carbon nanotubes" (Assignee University of Florida Research Foundation, August 28, 2007). The patent discloses a method for fabricating thin films of single wall carbon nanotubes that are simultaneously transparent and electrically conducting, features that are necessary for opto-electronic device such as solar cells, light detecting and light emitting devices. The method, along with a series of related patent pending developments could result in the broad commercial application of carbon nanotubes.