US Patent 7515333 - Nanocomposite optical amplifier

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7515333.html

This patent from Nanosys teaches the use semiconductor nanorods to expand the range of optical amplification in telecommunications. Claim 1 reads:

1. An optical device, comprising:

an optical amplifier that comprises a nanocomposite material that includes:

InAs or CdSe nanorod cores having one or more core-overcoating shell layers made of a semiconductor material selected from the group comprising ZnS, InP, CdSe, CdS, and ZnSe disposed thereon, wherein the core-shell nanorods emit light at from about 1200 nm to about 1700 nm; and have Auger scattering times greater than 5 ns.