Semiconductor nanocrystals (or quantum dots) are attractive for use in a number of light-emitting technologies. But there's a snag: it's hard to pump nanocrystals electrically because of their insulating organic capping layers. Now scientists at Los Alamos National Laboratory and Sandia National Laboratories, both in the US, have transferred energy to nanocrystals from epitaxial quantum wells without the need for electrical contacts (M Achermann et al. 2004 Nature 429 642).
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