The award goes to Tunisian-American Monji Bawendi, American Louis E. Bruce, and Russian Alexei Ekimov. They conducted research on particles that are about a millionth of a millimeter in size. They are used in nanotechnology.
Quantum dots are used, among other things, to obtain bright colors in displays, and also in research on cancer cells. Ekimov and Bruce discovered particles in the 1980s. Boundy leads a research group studying how quantum dots can be applied.
“These particles are of great importance in nanotechnology,” wrote the organization behind the Nobel Prize. “Researchers believe that in the future they could contribute to flexible electronics, small sensors, thin solar cells (for example, those found in solar panels, ed.) and encrypted quantum communications.”
The winners were not officially announced until 11:45 a.m., but earlier in the morning several Swedish media outlets received a press release containing their names. The Swedish Academy of Sciences, sending the press release, called this an error.
The winners of the Nobel Prizes in Medicine and Physics were announced on Monday and Wednesday.
The first goes to Katalin Carrico and Drew Weissman for developing an mRNA vaccine against Corona.
Pierre Agostini, Ferenc Krauss and Anne Lhuillier received the Nobel Prize in Physics for their research into extremely fast flashes of light.
The winners of the Nobel Prizes in Literature (Thursday), Peace (Friday) and Economics (next Monday) will come in the coming days.
The winners not only receive recognition, but can also hand out a cash prize worth more than €950,000. They also receive a medal and a diploma.
All prizes will be awarded on December 10. It is the anniversary of the death of Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel, after whom the awards are named.
