Quantum dots
Puntos cuánticos (nanocristales semiconductores)
- Date
- 1981-1993 · confidence high
- Place
- Vavilov Institute, Saint Petersburg (Ekimov); Bell Labs, Murray Hill (Brus); MIT (Bawendi)
- Credited to
- Alexei Ekimov (1981), Louis Brus (1983), Moungi Bawendi (controlled synthesis, 1993)
- People
- 👤 Alekséi Yekímov1945–👤 Alexander Efros1950–👤 Louis Eugene Brus1943–2026
- Field
- Matter & energy
What was discovered
Semiconductor crystals a few nanometres across whose optical properties depend on their size through quantum confinement. Bawendi's colloidal synthesis allowed them to be produced with controlled size and quality.
Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2023.
What it led to
- QLED displays
- Biomedical imaging
- Next-generation photovoltaics and LEDs
- Nanochemistry
Built on
- colloid chemistry
- quantum confinement mechanics
Made possible
- QLED televisions
- fluorescent markers