Tech

New Quantum Dot Nanocrystal Technology Available in 2013 TVs

Mark Hoffman
First Posted: Jan 17, 2013 11:56 AM EST

The principle of nanoscale fluorescent particles called quantum dots were already discovered in 1981, but corresponding applications are just now becoming commercially viable. That is also thanks to the massmarket rollout of LED-backlit TVs and light sources, since the quantum dots can work in symbiosis with LEDs, which are now cheap enough as well.

The company QD Vision announced that their semiconductor nanocrystal technology that precisely emits light to produce bluer blues, greener greens and redder reds, called  Color IQTM, will be integrated in 2013 Sony TVs.

The new technology thus enables LCD televisions, monitors and other display products to deliver more lifelike, brilliant colors. The quantum dots will for now just facilitate a more effective coating for the white backlight LEDs, transforming some of the blue spectrum into the needed green and red spectra needed for a smooth, tri-chromatic light, which will also save energy since less light is wasted by color filters.

Quantum dots are crystals about 10 nanometers in diameter, made from a semiconductor material, at the moment usually cadmium selenide. They are so tiny that their shape and size affect the quantum properties of their electrons, in particular their energy gap - the energy needed to kick electrons into a higher-energy band - which determines the color of light that the mater­ial can emit.

A more advanced but still emerging technology to apply these properties are displays based solely on dedicated QLEDs. "At the heart of QLEDs are electroluminescent colloidal quantum dots that combine the customizable, saturated, stable color and low-voltage performance found in inorganic LEDs with the solution processability of polymers. The result -- a reliable, energy efficient, tunable color solution for displays and lighting that is less costly to manufacture and that can employ ultra-thin, transparent or flexible substrates", writes QD Vision. Early versions are working and available, but not (yet) inexpensive.

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