Patent ID: 8715537

Claim:
A thin film material made by a process comprising, (a) providing one or more molecular precursor compounds or inks thereof; (b) providing a substrate; (c) depositing the compounds or inks onto the substrate; and (d) heating the substrate at a temperature of from about 20° C. to about 650° C. in an inert atmosphere, thereby producing a thin film material having a thickness of from 0.05 to 10 micrometers; wherein the molecular precursor compound has the formula M A -(ER 1 )(ER 2 )(ER 3 )M B R 4 , wherein M A is a monovalent metal atom, M B is an atom of Group 13, each E is independently S, Se, or Te, and R 1 , R 2 , R 3 , and R 4 are the same or different and are independently selected from alkyl, aryl, heteroaryl, alkenyl, amido, and silyl, wherein the compound has the structure shown in one of FIGS. 1 and 2 .