TECHNOLOGY FOCUS - INORGANIC CHEMISTRY - Preferred Process: The chalcogen atmosphere provides a partial pressure greater than or equal to the vapor pressure of liquid chalcogen in the precursor layer at the processing temperature. Reacting comprises heating the layer in a suitable atmosphere. The depositing step comprises coating the substrate with the dispersion comprising an emulsion. Nanoglobules of gallium are formed by creating an emulsion of liquid gallium in a solution. Gallium is quenched below room temperature. The dispersion of gallium is maintained or enhanced in solution by stirring, mechanical mechanism, electromagnetic mechanism, ultrasonic mechanism, and/or addition of dispersants and/or emulsifiers. The particles are formed from a feedstock having an inter-metallic phase and nanoparticles are formed by milling, electroexplosive wire (EEW) processing, evaporation condensation (EC) and/or pulsed plasma processing. Preferred Materials: Aluminum, tellurium and/or sulfur are added. The atmosphere comprises selenium, sulfur, tellurium, hydrogen (H2), carbon monoxide (CO), hydrogen selenide (H2Se), hydrogen sulfide (H2S), argon (Ar), and/or nitrogen (N2). One or more classes of the particles are doped with aluminum, sulfur, sodium, potassium, or lithium. The chalcogen atmosphere comprises selenium and sulfur. The chalcogen in the precursor material is in an amount greater than or equal to a stoichiometric amount found in the IB-IIIA chalcogenide film. The Group IIIA element comprises gallium, indium and/or aluminum. The chalcogen is selenium, sulfur or tellurium. Preferred Composition: The IB-IIIA chalcogenide film is CuzIn(1-x)GaxS2(1-y)Se2y. It has a molar ratio of Group IB to Group IIIA elements of greater than 0.80 and less than 1.0. The particles do not contain above 5.0 wt.% oxygen.z=0.5-1.5; andx, y=0-1.0.    TECHNOLOGY FOCUS - METALLURGY - Preferred Materials: The film includes a Group IB-IIIA-VIA compound. At least one set of the particles in the dispersion is in the form of nanoglobules and contains Group IIIA element(s). The inter-metallic phase is not a solid solution phase. A majority of the particles have a platelet shape. The inter-metallic material is a binary material or a ternary material. It comprises a delta phase of copper-indium (Cu1In2) or a composition in between a delta phase of Cu1In2 and a phase defined by Cu16In9. The inter-metallic material may comprise copper-gallium (Cu1Ga2, Cu68Ga38, Cu70Ga30, or Cu75Ga25). Preferred Composition: The inter-metallic particles contribute less than 50 molar% Group IB elements and less than 50 molar% Group IIIA elements in the dispersion deposited on the substrate. Alternatively, the inter-metallic particles contribute less than 50 molar% Group IB elements and more than 50 molar% Group IIIA elements in the dispersion deposited on the substrate. The inter-metallic particles may also contribute more than 50 molar% Group IB elements and less than 50 molar% Group IIIA elements in the dispersion deposited on the substrate. The inter-metallic comprises a composition of Cu-Ga in a gamma 1 phase (31.8-39.8 wt.% Ga), a composition of Cu-Ga in a gamma 2 phase (36.0-39.9 wt.% Ga), a composition of Cu-Ga in a gamma 3 phase (39.7-44.9 wt.% Ga), a composition of Cu-Ga in a 0 phase (66.7-68.7 wt.% Ga), a composition of Cu-Ga in a phase between gamma 2 and gamma 3, or a composition of Cu-Ga in a phase between the terminal solid solution and gamma 1.