Connecting the (Quantum) Dots: Road to ERC Funding

Colloidal semiconductor nanocrystals (commonly referred to as Quantum Dots) are one of the
earliest examples of Nanomaterials as their initial discovery dates back to 1986. Nevertheless, they
still attract considerable attention thanks to their versatile chemical synthesis, desirable properties
for optoelectronics and rich photophysics. Since 2013, my research effort has been dedicated to the
development of optoelectronic devices based on colloidal semiconductor nanocrystals.
Nanocrystals based II-VI semiconductors have served as a model system for understanding the
strong correlation between chemical synthesis and physical properties, as well as the development
of technological applications such as solar cells, lasers and light-emitting diodes (LEDs). Such
knowledge is employed nowadays for the development of the newly discovered lead-based
perovskites (general formula: APbX3, where A = Cs or an organic moiety and X = Cl, Br or I).

In this talk, I will present some recent results on NC light-emitting diodes (LEDs) based on PbS and
perovskite nanocrystals, operating both in the visible and in the infrared spectral range. The
efficiency of NC-LEDs has now reach important milestones thanks to interdisciplinary collaboration
between physicists, chemists and material scientists. Yet, LEDs based on ensemble of nanocrystals
(i.e. nanocrystal films) show good performance in terms of efficiency and luminance but their
applicability is still limited to standard consumer electronics products such as displays and
illumination.

The future challenge is to exploit colloidal semiconductor nanocrystals for single-photon generation
under electrical excitation, thus leading to a novel class of non-classical light sources. In this
playground, the ERC has provided me support through a starting grant. In the last part of my talk I
will describe how “connecting the dots” between different research fields has led me to a successful
grant application.