Scientists with the University of Chicago have demonstrated a way to create infrared light using colloidal quantum dots. The researchers said the method demonstrates great promise; the dots are already as efficient as existing conventional methods, even though the experiments are still in early stages.
The dots could someday form the basis of infrared lasers as well as small and cost-effective sensors, such as those used in exhaust emissions tests or breathalyzers.
But infrared light has a lot of uses. In particular, it is very useful for making sensors. If you want to know whether harmful gases are coming out of your car exhaust, or test whether your breath is above the legal alcohol limit, or make sure methane gas isn't coming out of your drill plant, for example, you use infrared light. That's because different types of molecules will each absorb infrared light at a very specific wavelength, so they're easy to tell apart.
Prof. Philippe Guyot-Sionnest and Xingyu Shen in their laboratory at the Gordon Center for Integrative Sciences at the University of Chicago. Credit: Jean Lachat Guyot-Sionnest and his team have been experimenting with quantum dots and infrared technology for years. Building on their previous inventions, they set out to try to recreate a"cascade" technique that is widely used to make lasers, but had never been achieved withIn this"cascade" technique, researchers run an electrical current across a device, which sends millions of electrons traveling across it.
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