Quantum dots have emerged as an important class of material that offers great promise to a diverse range of applications ranging from energy conversion to biomedicine. Here, we review the potential of using quantum dots and quantum dot conjugates as sensitizers for photodynamic therapy (PDT). The photophysics of singlet oxygen generation in relation to quantum dot-based energy transfer is discu...

The influence of lateral asymmetry on the electronic structure and optical transitions in elliptical strained InAs nanorings is analyzed in the presence of a perpendicular magnetic field. Two-dimensional rings are assumed to have elliptical inner and outer boundaries oriented in mutually orthogonal directions. The influence of the eccentricity of the ring on the energy levels is analyzed. For l...

The creation, coherent manipulation, and measurement of spins in nanostructures open up completely new possibilities for electronics and information processing, among them quantum computing and quantum communication. We review our theoretical proposal for using electron spins in quantum dots as quantum bits. We present singleand two qubit gate mechanisms in laterally as well as vertically coupl...

The inter-sub-level transitions in modulation-doped Ge quantum dots are observed. The dot structure is grown by molecular-beam epitaxy, and consists of 30 periods of Ge quantum dots sandwiched by two 6 nm boron-doped Si layers. An absorption peak in the midinfrared range is observed at room temperature by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, which is attributed to the transitions between th...

The conditions under which the band gaps of free standing and embedded semiconductor quantum dots are direct or indirect are discussed. Semiconductor quantum dots are classified into three categories; (i) free standing dots, (ii) dots embedded in a direct gap matrix, and (iii) dots embedded in an indirect gap matrix. For each category, qualitative predictions are first discussed, followed by th...

The ordering of quantum dots in three-dimensional quantum dot lattices is investigated by grazing-incidence small-angle X-ray scattering (GISAXS). Theoretical models describing GISAXS intensity distributions for three general classes of lattices of quantum dots are proposed. The classes differ in the type of disorder of the positions of the quantum dots. The models enable full structure determi...

In September 2015, Philips, an electronics company based in The Netherlands, unveiled a computer monitor that achieved a brilliant color display using quantum dots: semiconductor nanocrystals that can be tuned to glow in any color. The Philips monitor was the first of its kind, following on the heels of the television that uses quantum dots to enhance its backlighting—rolled out by Sony in 2013...

Self-assembled InAs quantum dots (QDs) were grown on germanium substrates by metal organic chemical vapor deposition technique. Effects of growth temperature and InAs coverage on the size, density, and height of quantum dots were investigated. Growth temperature was varied from 400 to 450 °C and InAs coverage was varied between 1.40 and 2.35 monolayers (MLs). The surface morphology and structur...