An Elaboration of Quantum Dots and Its Applications

Being a semiconductor of very tiny size, quantum dots cause the band of energies to change into discrete energy levels. Band gaps and their related energy depend on the relationship between the size of the crystal and the exciton radius. The height and the energy between different energy levels varies inversely with the size of the quantum dot. The smaller the quantum dot, the higher is the energy it possesses. Quantum dots are defined as very small semiconductor crystals of size varying from nanometer scale to a few micron i.e. they are so small that they are considered dimensionless and are capable of showing many chemical properties by virtue of which they tend to be lead at one minute and gold at the second minute. Quantum dots generally house the electrons just the way the electrons would have been present in an atom, by applying a voltage. And therefore they are very judiciously named as the artificial atoms. This application of voltage may lead to the modification of the chemical nature of the material anytime it is desired, resulting in lead at one minute to gold at the other minute. But this method is quite beyond our reach in the present scenario. The applications of the quantum dots are quite vast e.g. they are very effectively applied to: Light emitting diodes: LEDs eg. White LEDs, Photovoltaic devices: solar cells, Memory elements, Biology : biosensors, imaging, Lasers, Quantum computation, Flat-panel displays, Photodetectors, Life sciences and so on and so forth. The nanometer sized particles are able to display any chosen colour in the entire ultraviolet visible spectrum when a small change in their size or composition is done.