US Patent 7374824 - Tellurium-based quantum dots

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7374824.html

This patent from M.I.T. has some fairly early priority going back as far as 1997 and is basic to quantum dots formed from tellurium composite material having relatively high quantum efficiency. Claim 1 reads:

1. A nanocrystallite comprising a nanocrystalline core comprising MTe, an overcoating including a semiconductor material, wherein M is selected from the group consisting of Cd, Zn, Mg, and Hg, and the nanocrystallite photoluminesces with a quantum efficiency of at least 20%.