US Patent 7834468 - IV-VI semiconductor nanoparticles

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7834468.html

This patent from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute has early priority (9/5/2001) and includes some broad claims to nanocrystals of PbSe and PbS which may be useful to thermal imaging devices. Claim 1 reads:

1. A plurality of semiconductor nanoparticles having an elementally passivated surface, wherein the nanoparticles comprise a IV-VI semiconductor material.