US Patent 8071359 - Core/shell nanocrystal bioprobes

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/8071359.html

This patent from the Regents of the University of California has priority going back to 1997 and includes some basic claims to core/shell nanocrystals used in bioprobes. Claim 1 reads:

1. A luminescent semiconductor nanocrystal composition, comprising:

a semiconductor core comprising a first semiconductor material;

a core-overcoating shell comprising a second semiconductor material which is different from the first semiconductor material, wherein the core and core-overcoating shell form a core/shell nanocrystal; and

a polymer.