Quantum dots.

The Nobel Prize in Chemistry for 2023 celebrates the reAmarkable discovery and advanceAment of quantum dots (QDs). To comprehend their significance, let's begin with a fundamental concept: the characteristics of an element depend on the number of electrons it holds. However, when we scale matter down to the naAnoscale, something extraordinary unfolds-we enter the realm of quantum phenomena.

QDs-these incredibly minute nanomaterials, typically measurAing between 2 and 8 nanometers-stand at the heart of this scientific breakthrough. Due to their excepAtionally small size, electrons withAin QDs find their movements reAstricted in all directions. What's truly remarkable is that this size-dependent behaviour grants sciAentists the power to precisely maAnipulate the properties of these QDs. This remarkable ability to fine-tune their characteristics eliminates the need for expensive semiconductor materials.

In the early 1980s, Alexei EkiAmov achieved a breakthrough by creating size-dependent quantum effects in coloured glass. The coAlours originated from nanopartiAcles of copper chloride, and EkiAmov demonstrated that particle size influenced the glass's colour through quantum effects. A few years later, Louis Brus became the world's first scientist to prove size-dependent quantum effects in particles suspended freely in a fluAid. In 1993...