Forming spherical semiconductive nanoparticles

Abstract

In certain embodiments, a material comprising one or more semiconductive substances is vaporized to generate a vapor phase condensate. The vapor phase condensate is allowed to form nanoparticles. The nanoparticles are annealed to yield substantially spherical nanoparticles.

1 . A system comprising:
 a vacuum chamber;   a material hopper coupled to the vacuum chamber;   a heating element disposed within the vacuum chamber; and   a quenchant gas supplier disposed within the vacuum chamber;   the vacuum chamber configured to provide an near vacuum volume;   the material hopper configured to direct material to the heating element, the material comprising one or more semiconductive substances;   the heating element configured to raise the temperature of the material to vaporize the material to generate a vapor phase condensate;   the quenchant gas supplier configured to introduce a quenchant gas into the vacuum chamber to cool the vapor phase condensate to form a plurality of nanoparticles; and   the heating element configured to raise the temperature of the nanoparticles to anneal the nanoparticles to yield substantially spherical nanoparticles.   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , the one or more semiconductor substances selected from the group consisting of mercury telluride, cadmium telluride, indium, and gallium. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1 , the material having an absorption edge greater than 0.5 microns. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 1 , the quenchant gas supplier configured to introduce the quenchant gas generally parallel to and at the same speed as the vapor phase condensate. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 an inert gas supplier configured to flush the vacuum chamber with an inert gas to yield an inert atmosphere prior to the vaporization.   
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 1 , the heating element configured to raise the temperature of the nanoparticles to anneal the nanoparticles by:
 heating the nanoparticles to a temperature greater than 200° C.; and   cooling the nanoparticles to a room temperature.   
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a particle collector configured to collect the substantially spherical nanoparticles.   
     
     
         8 . One or more non-transitory computer readable media storing logic configured to provide instructions to:
 vaporize material to generate a vapor phase condensate, the material comprising one or more semiconductive substances;   allow the vapor phase condensate to form a plurality of nanoparticles; and   anneal the nanoparticles to yield a plurality of substantially spherical nanoparticles.   
     
     
         9 . The media of  claim 8 , the one or more semiconductor substances selected from the group consisting of mercury telluride, cadmium telluride, indium, and gallium. 
     
     
         10 . The media of  claim 8 , the material having an absorption edge greater than 0.5 microns. 
     
     
         11 . The media of  claim 8 , the allowing the vapor phase condensate further comprising:
 allowing the vapor phase condensate to flow into thermal communication with a cooling fluid.   
     
     
         12 . The media of  claim 8 , the logic configured to provide instructions to:
 flush a vacuum chamber in which the material is located with an inert gas to yield an inert atmosphere prior to the vaporization.   
     
     
         13 . The media of  claim 8 , the annealing the nanoparticles further comprising:
 heating the nanoparticles to a temperature greater than 200° C.; and   cooling the nanoparticles to a room temperature.