Hot-wire nano-anemometer

1. A hot wire nano-anemometer comprising:

a pair of electrodes supported by a substrate and separated by an open area;

a nanowire formed in situ in the open area, electrically and mechanically coupled to the pair of electrodes; and

a sensing apparatus coupled to the nanowire to measure a temperature dependent property of the nanowire.

2. The hot wire nano-anemometer of claim 1 , wherein the nanowire is silicon.

3. The hot wire nano-anemometer of claim 1 , wherein the nanowire is a doped semiconductor.

4. The hot wire nano-anemometer of claim 1 , wherein the nanowire comprises a p-n junction.

5. The hot wire nano-anemometer of claim 1 , wherein the nanowire has a non-uniform composition along the length of the nanowire.

6. The hot wire nano-anemometer of claim 1 , further comprising an electrically insulating coating on an exterior surface of the nanowire.

7. The hot wire nano-anemometer of claim 1 , further comprising a chemically protective coating on an exterior surface of the nanowire.

8. The hot wire nano-anemometer of claim 1 , wherein the pair of electrodes comprise opposing sidewalls positioned to form a channel.

9. The hot wire nano-anemometer of claim 1 , wherein the nanowire extends substantially perpendicularly to the opposing sidewalls of the electrodes.

10. The hot wire nano-anemometer of claim 1 , wherein the sensing apparatus is integral with the substrate.

11. A method of using a hot wire nano-anemometer

providing a hot wire nano-anemometer having a nanowire grown in situ between a pair of electrodes to span an open area between the pair of electrodes;

flowing a media through the open area to encompass the nanowire; and

measuring a characteristic of the nanowire affected by flowing of the media to obtain information related to the flow of media through the open area.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the characteristic of the nanowire is electrical resistance.

13. The method of claim 11 , wherein the information is flow velocity.