Nanotechnology
Quantum Dot
A quantum dot is a semiconductor nanostructure that confines the motion of conduction band electrons, valence band holes, or excitons (bound pairs of conduction band electrons and valence band holes) in all three spatial directions. The confinement can be due to electrostatic potentials (generated by external electrodes, doping, strain, impurities), the presence of an interface between different semiconductor materials (e.g. in core-shell nanocrystal systems), the presence of the semiconductor surface (e.g. semiconductor nanocrystal), or a combination of these. A quantum dot has a discrete quantized energy spectrum. The corresponding wave functions are spatially localized within the quantum dot, but extend over many periods of the crystal lattice. A quantum dot contains a small finite number (of the order of 1-100) of conduction band electrons, valence band holes, or excitons, i.e., a finite number of elementary electric charges.
Description
Small quantum dots, such as colloidal semiconductor nanocrystals, can be as small as 2 to 10 nanometers, corresponding to 10 to 50 atoms in diameter and a total of 100 to 100,000 atoms within the quantum dot volume. Self-assembled quantum dots are typically between 10 and 50 nanometers in size. Quantum dots defined by lithographically patterned gate electrodes, or by etching on two-dimensional electron gases in semiconductor heterostructures can have lateral dimensions exceeding 100 nanometers. At 10 nanometers in diameter, nearly 3 million quantum dots could be lined up end to end and fit within the width of a human thumb.
Quantum dots can be contrasted to other semiconductor nanostructures: 1) quantum wires, which confine the motion of electrons or holes in two spatial directions and allow free propagation in the third. 2) quantum wells, which confine the motion of electrons or holes in one direction and allow free propagation in two directions.
Quantum dots containing electrons can also be compared to atoms: both have a discrete energy spectrum and bind a small number of electrons. In contrast to atoms, the confinement potential in quantum dots does not necessarily show spherical symmetry. In addition, the confined electrons do not move in free space, but in the semiconductor host crystal. The quantum dot host material, in particular its band structure, does therefore play an important role for all quantum dot properties. Typical energy scales, for example, are of the order of ten electron volts in atoms, but only 1 millielectron volt in quantum dots. Quantum dots with a nearly spherical symmetry, or flat quantum dots with nearly cylindrical symmetry can show shell filling according to the equivalent of Hund's rules for atoms. Such dots are sometimes called "artificial atoms". In contrast to atoms, the energy spectrum of a quantum dot can be engineered by controlling the geometrical size, shape, and the strength of the confinement potential. Also in contrast to atoms it is relatively easy to connect quantum dots by tunnel barriers to conducting leads, which allows the application of the techniques of tunneling spectroscopy for their investigation.
Like in atoms, the energy levels of small quantum dots can be probed by optical spectroscopy techniques. In quantum dots that confine electrons and holes, the interband absorption edge is blue shifted due to the confinement compared to the bulk material of the host semiconductor material. As a consequence, quantum dots of the same material, but with different sizes, can emit light of different colors.
Quantum dots are particularly significant for optical applications due to their theoretically high quantum yield. In electronic applications they have been proven to operate like a single-electron transistor and show the Coulomb blockade effect. Quantum dots have also been suggested as implementations of qubits for quantum information processing.
One of the optical features of small excitonic quantum dots immediately noticeable to the unaided eye is coloration. While the material which makes up a quantum dot defines its intrinsic energy signature, more significant in terms of coloration is the size. The larger the dot, the redder (the more towards the red end of the spectrum) the fluorescence. The smaller the dot, the bluer (the more towards the blue end) it is. The coloration is directly related to the energy levels of the quantum dot. Quantitatively speaking, the bandgap energy that determines the energy (and hence color) of the fluoresced light is inversely proportional to the square of the size of the quantum dot. Larger quantum dots have more energy levels which are more closely spaced. This allows the quantum dot to absorb photons containing less energy, i.e. those closer to the red end of the spectrum. Recent articles in nanotechnology and other journals have begun to suggest that the shape of the quantum dot may well also be a factor in the colorization, but as yet not enough information has become available.
The ability to tune the size of quantum dots is advantageous for many applications. For instance, larger quantum dots have spectra shifted towards the red compared to smaller dots, and exhibit less pronounced quantum properties. Conversely the smaller particles allow one to take advantage of quantum properties.
Description
Researchers at Los Alamos National Laboratory have developed a wireless nanodevice that efficiently produces visible light, through energy transfer from nano-thin layers of quantum wells to nanocrystals above the nanolayers.
Being zero dimensional, quantum dots have a sharper density of states than higher-dimensional structures. As a result, they have superior transport and optical properties, and are being researched for use in diode lasers, amplifiers, and biological sensors.
Quantum dot technology is one of the most promising candidates for use in solid-state quantum computation. By applying small voltages to the leads, one can control the flow of electrons through the quantum dot and thereby make precise measurements of the spin and other properties therein. With several entangled quantum dots, or qubits, plus a way of performing operations, quantum calculations might be possible.
Another cutting edge application of quantum dots is also being researched as potential artificial fluorophore for intra-operative detection of tumors using fluorescence spectroscopy.
organic dyesare used. However, with each passing year, more flexibility is being required of these dyes, and the traditional dyes are simply unable to meet the necessary standards at times. To this end, quantum dots have quickly filled in the role, being found to be superior to traditional organic dyes on several counts, one of the most immediately obvious being brightness (owing to the high quantum yield) as well as their stability (much less photodestruction). For single particle tracking, the irregular blinking of quantum dots is a minor drawback. Currently under research as well is tuning of the toxicity.
Quantum dots may have the potential to increase the efficiency and reduce the cost of today's typical silicon photovoltaic cells. According to experimental proof from 2006, quantum dots of lead selenide can produce as many as seven excitons from one high energy photon of sunlight (7.8 times the bandgap energy). This compares favourably to today's photovoltaic cells which can only manage one exciton per high-energy photon, with high kinetic energy carriers losing their energy as heat. This would not result in a 7-fold increase in final output however, but could boost the maximum theoretical efficiency from 31% to 42%. Quantum dot photovoltaics would theoretically be cheaper to manufacture, as they can be made "using simple chemical reactions".
There are several inquiries into using quantum dots as light-emitting diodes to make displays and other light sources: "QD-LED" displays, and "QD-WLED" (White LED). In June, 2006, QD Vision announced technical success in making a proof of concept quantum dot display. Quantum dots are valued for displays, because they emit light in very specific gaussian distributions. This can result in a display that can more accurately reflect the colors that the human eye can perceive. Quantum dots also require very little power since they are not color filtered. A LCD display, for example, is powered by a single fluorescent lamp that is color filtered to produce red, green, and blue pixels. Thus, when a LCD display shows a fully white screen, two-thirds of the light is absorbed by the filters. Displays that intrinsically produce monochromatic light can for this reason be more efficient, since more of the light produced reaches the eye.
Nanocrystal solar cell
Nanocrystal solar cells or quantum dot solar cells, are solar cells based on a silicon substrate with a coating of nanocrystals. Whilst previous methods of quantum dot creation relied on expensive molecular beam epitaxy processes, fabrication using colloidal synthesis allows for a more cost effective manufacture. A thin film of nanocrystals is obtained by a process known as “spin-coating”. This involves placing an amount of the quantum dot solution onto a flat substrate, which is then rotated very quickly. The solution spreads out uniformly, and the substrate is spun until the required thickness is achieved.
Quantum dot based photovoltaic cells based around dye-sensitised colloidal TiO2 films were investigated in 1991 and were found to exhibit promising efficiency of converting incident light energy to electrical energy, and were found to be incredibly encouraging due to the low cost of materials in the search for more commercially viable/affordable renewable energy sources.
Recent research in experimenting with lead selenide (PbSe) semiconductor, as well as with cadmium telluride (CdTe), which has already been well established in the production of "classic" solar cells. Other materials are being researched as well.
Researchers at Los Alamos National Laboratory have developed a wireless device that efficiently produces visible light, through energy transfer from thin layers of quantum wells to crystals above the layers.