Nobel Prize awarded for discovery of quantum dots that changed everything from TV displays to cancer imaging
The Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded in 2014 to Professor Stefan Hell of Germany, Professor William E. Moerner of the United States and Professor Hiroshi Amano of Japan, for the development of super-resolved fluorescence microscopy.
Super-resolved microscopy was made possible by using tiny semiconductor particles known as quantum dots. Quantum dots are nanometer-scale semiconductor particles that can be used as fluorescent markers for imaging and sensing applications. By using quantum dots to increase the resolving power of microscopes, scientists like Hell, Moerner and Amano were able to image structures that were previously impossible to detect.
This breakthrough has allowed us to study viruses and cell structures in unprecedented detail. It has also had a tremendous impact on technology. For example, quantum dot technology has been used to improve the resolution of television, computer displays and smartphone screens. It has also been used in the early detection of cancer.
The Nobel Prize awarded in 2014 for the development of super-resolved fluorescence microscopy was a groundbreaking achievement that opened up the use of quantum dots to study cellular structures and has led to advances in medical imaging and technology.