quantum dot

Syllable breakdown

Dictionary meaning

a semiconductor nanocrystal typically 2 to 10 nanometres in diameter whose charge carriers — electrons and holes — are confined in all three spatial dimensions, producing discrete quantised energy levels analogous to those of atoms; because the energy levels of a quantum dot depend on its size, the optical and electronic properties of quantum dots are highly size-tunable — smaller dots emit and absorb light at shorter wavelengths (blue), larger dots at longer wavelengths (red) — enabling precise colour control through size rather than chemical composition; quantum dots are used as fluorescent labels in biological imaging, as light-emitting components in QLED displays and quantum dot solar cells, and as building blocks for quantum computing architectures; the 2023 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to Moungi Bawendi, Louis Brus, and Alexei Ekimov for the discovery and synthesis of quantum dots

Examples

• Quantum dot televisions achieve wider colour gamuts than conventional LCDs because each dot emits a precise wavelength.
• Quantum dots conjugated to antibodies allow single-molecule tracking of proteins on living cell membranes.