Alexei Ekimov and his American colleagues Moungi G. Bawendi and Louis E. Brus have won the most prestigious scientific prize.
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awarded them “for the discovery and synthesis of quantum dots”.
The miniaturized size of these nanoparticles determines their properties.
For example, they are able to spread their light from LED lamps for a long time.
Quantum dots could be used in medicine, and in the future, they could guide surgeons when they remove tumor tissue, among many other things.
In the future, there is hope that quantum dots can also contribute to flexible electronics, tiny sensors, thinner solar cells and encrypted quantum communication.
Back in the 1980s, the Russian scientist noticed that the size of particles mattered and even their luminescence and color in quantum effects depended on it.
Alexei Ekimov was born in the USSR in 1945 and graduated from the Physics Department of Leningrad University.
He became a candidate of physical and mathematical sciences in 1974 and a PhD in 1989.
Both of his dissertations were devoted to the properties of semiconductors.
He has been living and working in the U.S. since 1999 and was the Chief Scientific Officer of Nanocrystals Technology Inc, New York, U.S.
