2023 Nobel Prize in Chemistry: Bringing color to nanotechnology

Scientists working with very small items have won a very big prize. Moungi G. Bawendi of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Louis E. Brus of Columbia University, and Alexei I. Ekimov of Nanocrystals Technology Inc. in New York, have been awarded the 2023 Nobel Prize in Chemistry "for the discovery and synthesis of quantum dots." Quantum dots, also known as semiconductor nanocrystals, are tiny particles that exhibit unique optical properties due to their small size.

“Quantum dots have many fascinating and unusual properties. Importantly, they have different colors depending on their size,” says Johan Åqvist, Chair of the Nobel Committee for Chemistry.

The official press release from the Committee notes that when the idea that size-dependent quantum effects could arise in nanoparticles was first theorized some time ago, it was almost impossible to sculpt in nanodimensions. Few people then believed this knowledge could ever be put to practical use.

Each of three scientists have contributed to a "fundamental discovery in nanotechnology," according to officials from the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.

Ekimov and Brus were early pioneers of the technology. In the 1980s, Ekimov was able to create size-dependent quantum effects in colored glass with nanoparticles of copper chloride, demonstrating that particle size affected the color of the glass via quantum effects. Not long afterward, Brus became the first to prove size-dependent quantum effects in particles floating freely in fluid. In the early 90s, Bawendi was able to create almost perfect particles with a revised chemical production of quantum dots.

Their work has led to new technologies in several spheres ranging from television screens to bioimaging.

SPIE congratulates these three Nobel laureates and the teams of scientists and researchers who have supported their visionary accomplishments.

Related SPIE content:
A billion windows on quantum dots

Read the laureates' open-access papers on the SPIE Digital Library