Quantum dots – semiconductor crystals a few nanometers across – may be the answer to improving modern display screens. Today’s liquid-crystal displays (LCDs) can produce only about a third of the range of colors the human eye can perceive, but the use of quantum dots could increase the number of possible colors further. One company, California-based Nanosys, uses the dots to tweak the spectrum from the LEDs so it is closer to the white light the human eye is used to. Nanosys claims that its final, filtered image is drawn from a palette that is 50 percent broader than that of an existing LCD. The technology can also be fitted easily into current manufacturing processes, cutting costs enormously. The result would be that cinema-like levels of color would be possible on the small screen, as well as professional-quality color photography available on tablet computers and mobile phones. And, while many industry experts believe the next generation of screens will be made using devices called organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs), others believe that the dots will be used to jump a complete generation of screen technology, and eventually quantum-dot displays could replace OLEDs. Quantum dots are also being considered for use in generating solar power by helping to improve efficiency. According to the article, “Quantum dots, then, look as if they have a bright future. Much hype has surrounded the idea of nanotechnology—the thought that manipulating objects on scales of a billionth of a metre will produce useful products. So far, the results have been less than spectacular. Dots, though, may prove an exception.”
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