QD ‘Blinking’ Mystery Unravels
LOS ALAMOS, N.M., Nov. 21, 2011 — A significantly better understanding of why quantum dots blink, and how this blinking can be controlled and even completely suppressed, should lead to many sought-after applications, such as single-particle tracking, novel LEDs and single-photon sources, and more energy-efficient solar cells.
Quantum dots, measuring 1 to 10 nm in diameter, have been on the research scene for decades, can be precisely tuned from the infrared to the ultraviolet, and are cheap and easy to make. They can be...