Patent ID: 8034317

Claim:
A composition of matter, comprising: a plurality of anisotropic nanoparticles that are in physical contact with one another, wherein the plurality of nanoparticles includes a member selected from the group consisting of (In,Ga) y (S.Se) 1-y , an In 2 Se 3 stable wurtzite structure that defines a hexagonal rod nanoparticle, Cu x (Se) 1-x , and Cu(In,Ga) 1-y (S,Se) 1-y , each of the plurality of anisotropic nanoparticles having a) a first dimension that is substantially different than both a second dimension and a third dimension and b) a non-random nanoparticle crystallographic orientation that is substantially aligned with the first dimension, wherein the plurality of anisotropic nanoparticles are substantially aligned with respect to each other to define a substantially close packed dense layer having a non-random shared crystallographic orientation that is substantially aligned with a basal plane of the substantially close packed dense layer, wherein the plurality of anisotropic nanoparticles are arranged to define an order having one-dimensional translational periodicity and a rotational symmetry selected from the group consisting of 8-fold, 10-fold and 12-fold with respect to a normal to the basal plane of the substantially close packed dense layer.