International Symposium: "30 Years of Quantum Dots"

About 30 years ago, Alexey Ekimov, Louis Brus & Alexander L. Efros started pioneering work on what has become the field of colloidal quantum dots. To celebrate this landmark event, a symposium will be held at ESPCI ParisTech on May 26-28, 2014.

Follow the symposium on Twitter with the hashtag #30YQD. Each conference will be recorded and posted on the symposium web site.

Colloidal quantum dots are semiconductor nanoparticles made of few hundred to a few thousand atoms only. They display unique optical and electronic properties that strongly depend on their size. Major progress has been made since the first synthesis of nearly monodisperse quantum dots in 1993 and, today, colloidal quantum dots may be produced with exquisite size control, down to atomic precision.

The fluorescence wavelength of a quantum dot is strongly correlated to its diameter - here from 2.3 nm (left) to 5.5 nm (right) ©B. Dubertret.

The number of teams around the globe performing research on colloidal quantum dots and on their applications is growing steadily, with the first large-scale production in sight.

In addition to their intriguing fundamental properties, these nanoparticles hold the potential to enable a new generation of electronic and opto-electronic devices, with disruptive impact on a number of industry segments such as displays, lighting, sensors, lasers, batteries, photovoltaics, biomarkers and medical imaging.

Numerous start-ups leveraging quantum-dot-based technologies have been founded - such as NexDot (formerly SolarWell) here at ESPCI ParisTech. The first consumer applications have emerged in 2013, in the display market.

In addition to the three keynote speakers, the symposium features a large number of invited talks given by scientists who made outstanding contributions to the early development of the field of colloidal quantum dots. Contributed talks by other teams and poster sessions will yet provide additional opportunities for lively discussions.

Topics include:
– Synthesis and characterization of colloidal semiconductor nano crystals
– Optical properties of quantum dots
– Quantum dot assembly and superstructures
– Quantum dot doping
– Charge transport through quantum dots and in quantum-dot assemblies
– Spins in quantum dots and quantum dots in quantum information science
– Photonic structures and plasmonic structures with quantum dots
– Hybrid structures (e.g., quantum dot - polymer/ferromagnet /superconductor structures)
– Theory of electronic structures, optical properties, transport, and many-body effects in quantum dots
– Applications of quantum dots in lasers, light-emitting diodes, displays, memories, photo-detectors, solar cells, bio- and chemo-sensing, etc.

Exploring further

– The symposium web site : "30 Years of Quantum Dots".
– The programme, with the abstracts of the various talks.
– The blog of Benoît Dubertret’s team at ESPCI ParisTech.