Colorful quantum dots snag 2023 Nobel Prize in Chemistry | Ars Technica

autotldr Bot , 10 months ago

This is the best summary I could come up with:

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Once thought impossible to make, quantum dots have become a common component in computer monitors, TV screens, and LED lamps, among other uses.

Three of the scientists who pioneered these colorful nanocrystals—Moungi G. Bawendi, Louis E. Brus, and Alexei I. Ekimov—have been awarded the 2023 Nobel Prize in Chemistry by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences “for the discovery and synthesis of quantum dots.” The news had already leaked in the Swedish news media—a rare occurrence—when Johan Aqvist, chair of the Academy’s Nobel committee for chemistry, made the official announcement, complete with five flasks containing quantum dots of many colors lined up before him as a visual aid.

Scientists succeeded in making nanoscale-thin films on top of bulk materials in the 1970s that had size-dependent optical properties, in keeping with those earlier predictions.

He drew on some of the optical diagnostic methods he’d used for his doctoral research on semiconductors, shining light on the materials and measuring how it was absorbed to learn more about the crystal structure.

Alas, Ekimov’s 1981 paper announcing his discovery was published in a Soviet journal, and thus, researchers elsewhere in the world didn’t have access.

That included Brus, who published a 1983 paper announcing his discovery of nanoparticles floating freely in a solution that also showed size-depending optical effects.

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The original article contains 571 words, the summary contains 215 words. Saved 62%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!

just_another_person , 10 months ago

This research may someday turn into compound sorting, so I guess that’s a plus.

GarytheSnail , 10 months ago

I would like to purchase the rainbow vials of quantum dots, please.