ATHENS, Ohio, Feb. 21 (UPI) -- Ohio University scientists hoping to use quantum dots for the next generation of computers have found a way to make the dots communicate.
"Essentially, the dots talk to each other," said Ameenah Al-Ahmadi, an OU doctoral student who published the findings with Professor of Physics Sergio Ulloa.
The dots are tiny, engineered spherical crystals about 5 nanometers in diameter. An average biological cell, in comparison, has a diameter of about 1,000 nanometers.
In the recent study, the scientists became the first to use theoretical models to show how light energy shining on quantum dots would prompt them to transfer energy in a "coherent" fashion. They found that when dots are arranged a certain distance from each other, light waves traveled between the nanocrystals in a consistent pattern. In previous research, the light's wavelength would change or become irregular during the energy exchange, which creates a breakdown in communication between quantum dots.
The results, say the researchers, suggest there could be a way to transmit information using light waves, laying the groundwork for a possible optical quantum computer.
The study appeared in a recent issue of the journal Applied Physics Letters.
