Nanomaterials for use in optoelectronic applications, and particularly nanocomposite optical amplifiers. nanocomposite optical amplifiers (NOAs), e.g., provided on integrated optical chips, for cost-effective broadband amplification across the entire clear-window of optical fiber. It is expected that such systems could provide a 15.times. increase in bandwidth over existing technology, while remaining compatible with all future advances in bit-rate and channel spacing.