UMR physicists have developed a process to embed tiny particles of semiconducting materials into an ultra-lightweight material, called an aerogel. That in itself is pretty cool. But what's even cooler is that these quantum dots -- semiconducting specks only a few nanometers in diameter -- also emit and absorb light. At the same time.
Massimo Bertino, an associate professor of physics at UMR, is leading the team of researchers developing this method of embedding quantum dots into aerogel surfaces. Recently, Bertino demonstrated the method by embedding a miniature version of the UMR wordmark into an aerogel surface. The photo, taken by UMR graphic designer/photographer Ian Nance, shows how the dots emit light.
About 18 months ago, Bertino and his research group published their findings in the American Institute of Physics journal Applied Physics Letters Their research paper described how they got the quantum dots into the aerogel surface. Essentially, they based their process on photolithography, a technique commonly used by microchip makers to print circuitry on silicon wafers. Bertino and company used a laser to zap the aerogel. This news release describes the process in more detail.
Tags: quantum dots, nanotechnology, physics
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