Mary Rowley

ENGR 1050, Introduction to Nano Technology, Fall 2015 (8:00AM-8:50AM)

Professor Cristan Ellison
Date: Nov. 2, 2015
Subject: E-Portfolio Paper Entitled Quantum Dots

Mary Rowley, Fall 2015

Quantum Dots
By Mary Rowley

Introduction

One of the subjects that I have found most interesting that we have talked about in this
course is Quantum Dots, which are semi-conductive nanocrystals. They range in size and shape
and can be anywhere from the nanometers scale to the micron scale. Their precise size and shape
can be very strictly controlled through the use of advanced nanofabrication technology. In
Quantum Dots: An Introduction the authors, Manisha Yadav and Anita Chaudhary, describe
quantum dots as man-made "droplets" of charge that can contain anything from a single
electron to a collection of several thousand (Yadav, 2014).

Mary Rowley, Fall 2015

During the 1970s groups at AT&T, Bell Laboratories, and IBM made the first 2D
Quantum wells, which are larger
semi-conductors. Then in the early
1980s A. I. Ekimov and his
colleagues discovered quantum dots
when they noticed an unusual
optical spectra from a sample of

Figure 1. Quantum
Confinement

glass containing cadmium sulphide and cadmium selenide that had been subject to high
temperatures. Ekimov suggested that heating the sample had caused nanocrystals of the
semiconductors to be deposited in the glass and quantum confinement of the electrons was
causing the optical effect they were seeing. Years later it was discovered that Ekimov was correct
in his theory and later the term Quantum Dot was coined by Mark Reed to describe this
confinement of electrons.
In Figure one, you can see how confinement works for different structures. In a quantum
well, electrons are confined by one dimension but can freely move about the other two. In the
image the arrows indicate that electrons are being confined on the sides but electrons can still
move back and forth as well as up and down. A quantum wire is confined in two dimensions so
electrons can only move back and forth. A quantum dot is confined on all sides. This
confinement was causing the optical effect Ekimov was seeing.
Fundamental Concepts
In this section I will go over some fundamental concepts that I found interesting in
relation to quantum dots. These fundamental concepts will cover the conductivity of quantum
dots as well as their optical properties and structure.

Mary Rowley, Fall 2015

Fundamental Concept 1- As mentioned in the introduction, quantum dots are crystals of a

semiconductor meaning that they
can convert incoming energy.
In my research I found that some
refer to quantum dots as manmade atoms. I believe this is
because they believe that the
electronic structure of a quantum
dot more closely resembles that of
Figure 2: The smaller the particle, the bigger the band gap.

an atom than bulk semiconducting

materials. However, unlike an atom, the conductivity of a quantum dot is determined by size and
shape which can be modified. The larger a quantum dot is, the closer the band gap is to its bulk
structure and the closer the band gap the more conductive the element will be. This is
demonstrated in figure 2.
Fundamental Concept 2- Another fundamental concept of quantum dots is that they can
be florescent, meaning that they emit light. The color given off is directly related to the energy
levels of the quantum dot. A larger dot has more energy levels that are more closely space. This
allows for the absorption of photons that contain less energy which are photons closer to the red
end of the color spectrum. In other words, the color of a quantum dot can be adjusted by its size.
In figure 2 this is demonstrated by the color of the dots shown. A bigger dot of about
5nms would be red where a smaller dot of about 2nm is blue with other sizes in between being
orange, yellow, or green. Since coloring can be adjusted by the sizing of quantum dots, two

Mary Rowley, Fall 2015

quantum dots made of the same material could potentially display two different colors if the
particle sizes were different.
Fundamental Concept 3- Quantum dots are typically made up of a core and a shell. The
core is usually a semi conductive metal such as cadmiumselenium where the shell is usually
made of another semi conductive material such as Zinc Sulfide. Cadmium is most commonly
used as a part of the core of a quantum dot, however one of the issues of using cadmiumcontaining quantum dots in biological research is that they can release toxic cadmium ions into
biological fluids when there is long-term contact. Because of this, the shell of the quantum dot
has to be made of a material that will lessen the toxicity of the dot. Zinc Sulfide is commonly
used as a shell for this reason.
Current Investigations
Currently quantum dots are being used in many different fields. However most of the
research I found was directed mostly in the technology and medical fields.
In the field of technology, the size and optical properties of quantum dots allow them to
be used in screens of devices such as televisions, cell phones, and computers. They permit a
wider range of color with less energy than is currently required to create some colors on the
screen.
In addition to using quantum dots for digital displays, they are also investigating the use
of quantum dots as a source for white light. They are finding that the white light of quantum dots
has a slight yellow tint that more closely resembles the light of the sun than can currently be
given by a light bulb or florescent tubes. They also give off less infrared radiation making them
more energy efficient than the light bulb.

Mary Rowley, Fall 2015

In the medical field, they have found that quantum dots can be encased in a shell that is
set up like receptors in the body that correspond to a certain disease or virus. Because they are
disguised as receptors, the quantum dots will then seek out the disease, virus, etc. and they will
attach to it. Due to their florescent properties, this allows doctors to get a better idea of how big
the problem may be. Because a small number of receptors is needed, there is enough surface area
that drugs for treatment of the disease can be added as well.
As mentioned in fundamental concept three, there is some concern that quantum dots
could be toxic to humans, so they are currently looking into ways of reducing the toxicity. One of
the suggestions for reducing toxicity that I found was in the article Toxicity of quantum dots on
respiratory system written by Tianshu Wu and Meng Tang. They suggest using materials with
low natural toxicity levels rather than the heavy metals that are contained in the core of most
quantum dots (Wu, 2014).
Conclusion- There is still a lot we dont know about quantum dots as this time, there is a
lot of research that could be done in the medical and technological fields. They seem to have a
lot of potential, both good and bad (mostly good from what Ive seen), and I cant wait to see
how they use these dots to make the world a better place.

Mary Rowley, Fall 2015

References
MELVILLE, J., & KAPELEWSKI, M. (2015). Optical Properties of Quantum Dots.
https://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~jmlvll/lab-reports/quantumDots/quantumDots.pdf

Wu, T., & Tang, M. (2014). Toxicity of quantum dots on respiratory system. Inhalation
Toxicology, 26(2), 128-139. doi:10.3109/08958378.2013.871762
http://dbprox.slcc.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?
direct=true&db=aph&AN=94278445&site=eds-live

Yadav, M., & Chaudhary, A. (2014, September). Quantum Dots: An Introduction. In National
Conference IAEISDISE (Vol. 12, No. 13).
http://www.ijrat.org/downloads/iaeisdise14/14.pdf

Mary Rowley, Fall 2015