Matthew Doty, assistant professor in the department of materials science and engineering at the University of Delaware, has received a five-year, $525,000 National Science Foundation (NSF) Faculty Early Career Development Award for his work on quantum dot (QD) molecules, or artificial atoms, which have potential applications in optoelectronic devices such as lasers and sensors, quantum information processing and functional materials. Matthew Doty in the lab at the University of Delaware. (Photo: Kathy Atkinson) “Progress towards any of these possible applications requires answers to many fundamental questions about the coupling between quantum dots,” he said. Questions he hopes his research over the next five years will answer include identifying the physical mechanisms of coupling, finding out if particles tunnel between dots or transfer via resonant energy transfer, and discovering the dynamics of interactions between electrons. The career development awards are granted to help young investigators deemed most likely to become the academic leaders of the 21st century launch their independent research careers. Doty joined the UD faculty in 2007 after a three-year stint as a National Research Council research associate at the Naval Research Laboratory. He earned his PhD in physics at the University of California, Santa Barbara.