Improving Quantum Dots

Images obtained from NN-Labs web site

NN-Labs (Nanomaterials & Nanofabrication Laboratories) has developed an alternative to cadmium seleneide-based quantum dots (CdSe) free of heavy metals. This alternative, indium phosphide, introduced in April this year, provides high performance while eliminating the use of cadmium.

The company NN-Labs, which was born as a spin-off from the University of Arkansas, has announced the release, in May this year, a U.S. patent entitled ‘Synthetic Control of Metal Oxide Nanocrystal Shapes and Sizes’ to describe a method to synthesize metal oxide nanocrystals by controlling their size, shape and distribution.

During this month of June, the mentioned company has received a Phase I SBIR award from the National Science Foundation for a project entitled ‘Highly luminescent Maganese-Doped Zinc Selenide Quantum Dots to Enhance Silicon Solar Cell Spectral Efficiency Through Down-Conversion’ which attempts to demonstrate the enrichment efficiency of a polycrystalline silicon solar cell through spectral downconverter overlayer containing metal ion-doped quantum dot nanocrystals.