Join us for a Department of Physics colloquium entitled 鈥淔rom Curiosity to Breakthrough: Unlocking the nano world of colloidal quantum dots鈥 with Professor聽Moungi Bawendi, Massachusetts Institution of Technology (MIT) and winner of the 2023 Nobel Prize for chemistry.
Please note聽鈥 The lecture will run from 16:00-17:00 in LT3, followed by refreshments from 17:00-18:00 in the Level 8 Common Room of the Blackett Building.
Abstract
This talk will cover aspects of the discovery and early synthesis of nanocrystal quantum dots. This will be followed by a description of the path to some of their applications. The talk will then focus on recent results on light emission from single larger perovskite nanocrystals, with their potential application as sources of quantum light.
Biography
Professor Bawendi is a French-born American chemist who was awarded the 2023 Nobel Prize for chemistry for his work in producing quantum dots, very small particles whose unusual quantum properties depend on their size. Bawendi earned a bachelor鈥檚 and a master鈥檚 degree from Harvard University and a PhD from the University of Chicago. As a postdoctoral fellow at鈥疊ell Laboratories, he conducted research in materials synthesis that advanced methods of producing high-quality nanoparticles and quantum dots 鈥 minute crystals made of semiconductors. Subsequently, he accepted a position at MIT, where he became Lester Wolfe Professor of Chemistry.
Professor Bawendi shared his 2023 Nobel Prize with Louis E. Brus and Aleksey Yekimov. He had revolutionized the chemical production of quantum dots in 1993, which resulted in almost perfect particles. Quantum dots now illuminate computer monitors and television screens and are used by biochemists and doctors to map biological tissue.聽