US Patent 7371666 - Fabrication of photoluminescent silicon nanoparticles

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7371666.html

Photoluminescence is a common phenomena in quantum dots made from a variety of semiconductor materials useful for biotags and electro-optic devices such as sensors and lasers. This patent from the State University of New York teaches a manufacturing process for photoluminescent silicon nanoparticles capable of greater volume of production than prior processes. Claim 1 reads:

1. A process for producing photoluminescent silicon nanoparticles comprising:

reacting a silicon precursor in the presence of a sheath gas with heat from a radiation beam under conditions effective to produce silicon nanoparticles and

acid etching the silicon nanoparticles under conditions effective to produce photoluminescent silicon nanoparticles.