a new composition the present work shows that metal chalcogenide semiconductors can be synthesized during fiber drawing given recent advances in the areas of silicon and germanium based fibers it is likely that compound semiconductors used in conventional microelectronics may also be incorporated into photonic or electronic fiber devices the fabrication of rectifying devices within drawn fibers by synthesis of an interface compound itself is an important development and is reminiscent of the first recognition that metal silicides can substantially improve the repeatability and reliability of metal silicon contacts that has revolutionized microelectronics 32 this new fiber photodiode exhibits a three order of magnitude improvement in nep over previous fiber photoconductor devices 14 furthermore the ability to form both ohimc and rectifying junctions is important for creating a host of different increasingly complex electronic circuits the ability to create blocking junctions may also be useful in improving the performance of newly demonstrated fiber transistors 12 and this work should lay the groundwork for many new advances in the function of fiber devices on both the individual and array level the invention disclosed herein can be used to synthesize the following compounds among others zns znse znte pbs pbse pbte in 2 se 3 inse cuinse 2 bi 2 se 3 inas ingaas si x ge 1 u2212 x it is recognized that modifications and variations of the invention will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art and it is intended that all such modifications and variations be included within the scope of the appended claims 2 abouraddy a f et al 2007 towards multimaterial multifunctional fibres that see.