Solid, crystalline structures of incredibly tiny particles known as quantum dots have been developed by engineers in the US, and they’re so close to perfect, they could be a serious contender for a silicon alternative in the super-fast computers of the future.
Just as single-crystal silicon wafers revolutionised computing technology more than 60 years ago (your phone, laptop, PC, and iPad wouldn’t exist without one), quantum dot solids could change everything about how we transmit and process information in the decades to come.
But despite the incredible potential of quantum dot crystals in computing technology, researchers have been struggling for years to organise each individual dot into a perfectly structured solid – something that’s crucial if you want to install it in a processor and run an electric charge through it.