US Patent 7367999 - Method of producing nanoparticle film using sputtering

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7367999.html

This patent from Fujifilm teaches a method of producing nanoparticles of a larger variety of compositions and which is less subject to agglomeration. Claim 1 reads:

1. A method of producing ultrafine particles by vaporization comprising:

vaporizing a target by sputtering;

causing particles that fly from the target by vaporization to be deposited on an oil surface; and

recovering the oil on which the flown particles have been deposited to obtain individually dispersed ultrafine particles, wherein the target is a multi-element compound.