UPDATE - Moungi Bawendi, Louis Brus, Alexei Ekimov win Nobel Prize in chemistry for research in quantum dots

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By Burak Bir

LONDON (AA) - Moungi Bawendi, Louis Brus, and Alexei Ekimov were jointly awarded the 2023 Nobel Prize in chemistry on Wednesday "for the discovery and synthesis of quantum dots."

"The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2023 rewards the discovery and development of quantum dots, nanoparticles so tiny that their size determines their properties," the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said in a statement.

"These smallest components of nanotechnology now spread their light from televisions and LED lamps, and can also guide surgeons when they remove tumour tissue, among many other things."

In the early 1980s, Russian scientist Ekimov, who is also former chief scientist at Nanocrystals Technology Inc., succeeded in creating size-dependent quantum effects in colored glass and demonstrated that the particle size affected the color of the glass via quantum effects.

A few years later, American scientist Brus who is a professor at Columbia University, was the first scientist in the world to prove size-dependent quantum effects in particles floating freely in a fluid.

In 1993, French chemist Bawendi, who is now a professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), "revolutionised" the chemical production of quantum dots, resulting in almost perfect particles.

"I was very surprised, sleepy, shocked, and very honoured," Bawendi was quoted as saying by the Nobel Prize.

The Nobel Prize in chemistry has been awarded 115 times to 194 Nobel Prize laureates since 1901.