Nanokristalline Partikel enthaltendes Material und Verfahren zur Herstellung

A nano-crystalline particle-containing material for optical or electronic components is in the form of a matrix-free film of particles deposited from a sol containing stabilising ligands which preferably produce cross-linking of the nano-crystalline particles. Preferably, the ligand is an aminopropyl silane and the nano-crystalline particles consist of a II-VI semiconductor such as CdSe. Also claimed is production of the above material by applying a sol, which contains nano-crystalline particles and stabilising ligands, onto a substrate and then curing. USE - As the active medium of an optically pumped laser or as a nonlinear optical waveguide (claimed). ADVANTAGE - The material has high purity, has high quantum efficiency even at room temperature (e.g. a matrix-free CdSe film of the invention has a total spectral efficiency 15% at low temperature and 1-3% at room temperature, i.e. a factor of 10 greater than that of conventional nano-crystalline II-VI particles in a glass or polymer m atrix) and exhibits optical gain. The material is simple, quick and inexpensive to produce as up to 10 mu m thick high quality films.