Moungi G. Bawendi, Louis E. Brus, and Alexei I. Ekimov. You may not recognize their names, but their findings have helped shape some of the current cutting-edge of display technology: quantum dots, which have become increasingly more common in modern displays over the last decade. These three scientists have just been awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences “for the discovery and synthesis of quantum dots” in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s.
According to Ars Technica, Ekimov commented on the news by saying “It was really nice that we got it after 40 years of work.” The publication says that Brus returned a missed phone call he had received while sleeping, only to find out it was a TV station from Miami who was calling to get the scientist’s reaction to winning the Nobel Prize. “They were the first people to tell me,” said Brus.
“This is a collaborative effort rather than one person making a discovery—partly physics, partly chemistry, partly materials science,” Brus continued. “It’s a great honor. It’s recognition for the field, it’s recognition that I worked very hard on this subject for a long time. But at the same time, there are many scientists all over the world who work very hard on their subjects all their lifetime, so I’m just lucky, I guess.”
“Chemists work continuously to develop and make novel architectures and scaffolds of atoms and molecules designed to deliver tailored properties and function,” said American Chemical Society President Judith C. Giordan in a statement. “Quantum dots are a beautiful example of the ability to theorize a phenomenon, then synthesize and tailor particles and precisely manufacture them. The size tunability of quantum dots allows them to emit specific wavelengths of light for a wide range of uses from displays to bioimaging to lighting applications.”
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