The Next-generation Luminescent Material

Quantum dots (QDs) are semiconductor crystals that are several nanometers in size. Unlike bulk materials, changes in optical and electronic properties occur at the nanoscale owing to the quantum confinement effect and increased surface area. QDs exhibit this confinement effect and have the advantage of being able to control optical and electrical properties by scaling.

QDs have been widely used as wide-color-gamut display materials because of their easy wavelength control and high quantum efficiency, and the narrow FWHM (full width at half maximum) of their emission spectrum. In particular, QD TVs and monitors that use QD films or QD pixels to convert blue LED light sources into red or green light are now on the market. At present, we are actively developing and researching self-luminous QD-LED displays that utilize electroluminescence (EL) to convert electrical current into light, which can improve the viewing angle and contrast ratio of next generation displays. For QD applications, it is essential to synthesize high-quality uniform QD materials to coordinate the QD surfaces with appropriate organic ligands. In addition to display materials, we are investigating their application to solar cells, photodetectors, biomarkers, photocatalysis, and other applications.