Quantum Dots with Recent Developments

What is a Quantum dot ?
A quantum dot is a semiconductor whose excitons are confined in all three spatial dimensions. The term "Quantum Dot" was coined by Mark Reed at Texas Instruments. As a result, they have properties that are between those of bulk semiconductors and those of discrete molecules.Researchers have studied quantum dots in transistors, solar cells, LEDs, and diode lasers. They have also investigated quantum dots as agents for medical imaging and hope to use them as qubits. Some quantum dots are commercially available.[…]

Recent Developments on Quantum Dots:

1. Light Touch: Controlling The Behavior Of Quantum Dots: Researchers from NIST and the Joint Quantum Institute have reported a new way to fine-tune the light coming from quantum dots by manipulating them with pairs of lasers. Their technique could significantly improve quantum dots as a source of pairs of entangled photons for applications in quantum information technologies.[1]
2. Quantum Dots Deliver Photons One At A Time: A National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) scientist has demonstrated efficient production of single photons---the smallest pulses of light---at the highest temperatures reported for the photon source used.[2]
3. New Quantum Dot Transistor Counts Individual Photons: Researchers have designed and demonstrated a transistor containing quantum dots that can count individual photons. The semiconductor device could be integrated easily into electronics for applications such as quantum key distribution for 'unbreakable' encryption using single photons.[3]
4. Problem Of Quantum Dot 'Blinking' Solved: Scientists have found one possible way to induce quantum dots to emit photons faster and more consistently, without their characteristic blinking. The advance could make quantum dots more sensitive as fluorescent tags in biomedical tests and single-molecule studies and steadier sources of single photons for quantum encryption.[4]
5. What Makes Quantum Dots Blink?: In order to learn more about the origins of quantum dot blinking, researchers have developed a method to characterize it on faster time scales than have previously been accessed. Nanocrystals of semiconductor material, also known as quantum dots, are being intensively investigated for applications such as light-emitting diodes, solid-state lighting, lasers, and solar cells.[5]