Quantum dots may provide lighting
By Marc Perton 
posted October 24th 2005 6:20PM
posted October 24th 2005 6:20PM
Researchers at Vanderbilt University have found that by using a
laser to stimulate quantum dots — the ice cream of the future crystals just a few nanometers in size — the
dots were able to emit a bright white light. And by adding nanocrystals to a polyurethane mix and using it to coat an
LED, the scientists were able to create a sort of super-LED, capable of emitting as much light as a standard 60-watt
light bulb. The developers theorize that quantum dots could eventually be used to make standard light bulbs obsolete,
and could usher in an era of completely flexible lighting, created by painting quantum dots onto a surface and
electrically charging it to produce light.
[Thanks, bookishboy & Dave S]
Coolest thing ever.
This is old news. Pretty sure we had 'quantum dots' back in the late 70's. You *never* wanted to mix these with alcohol or you'd spend your last years as the pawn in a legal battle over whether they should pull the plug.
So does this mean I can paint my Honda Civic with quantum dot clearcoat?? That would be FR34|<1n6 1Cy |-|07, y0.
I can't wait for the neon future to arrive.
Quantum dots all over my wall could turn into a nanotoxic hazard. Better check that out first before anyone gets all excited.
How many Engadget fanboys does it take to change a quantum dot?
All of them, one to plug it in, and the rest to drool over how great it is.
Q: How many programmers does it take to change a light bulb?
A: None. That's a hardware problem.
quantum dots...delicious.
Q: How many women does it take to change a lightbulb?
A: Just the one.
No. Stop it. Really - ha ha . . . . it comes naturally, it really does. Sit down, please etc etc.
quantum dots are old news... grad students at drexel university already stimulated them to be all different colors depending on the size of the quantum dots
That's a genius move if I ever saw one. Replace the standard light bulb with something that needs to be stimulated by a laser.
Well, no, it doesn't need to be stimulated by a laser. As the article says, an ordinary LED works fine.
Although it does sort of smell of perpetual motion -- it sounds almost as though they're getting more energy out (in the form of visible light) than they're putting in. I'll need to see this before I believe it. It's a legitimate team at a real university, sure, but so were Pons and Fleischman.
Assuming there's something to it, they may have invented the perfect light bulb. LEDs are very long-lived and very efficient, and if a single LED can produce bright white light instead of the pale blue that's the best they can manage now, it's the lighting of the future.
we've been using this technology at area 51 for 50 years
If only it were true! This article which is circulating like crazy now, is all based off a grossly incorrect LiveScience article that came out last week.
more than 60 watts of light from a single blue led is just about as possible as perpetual motion or time travel...
if any of these "journalists" had bothered to read the original release from Vanderbilt, they would report the scientists claim that leds produce on average twice as much light per watt of energy consumed. Now, if these researchers had actually done something useful and invented a sixty watt LED, and then covered it with some white paint... that would be newsworthy.