QD Vision picks up 2011 SEMI award for North America
The developer of nanotechnology-based optical products for displays and solid state lighting received the 2011 SEMI Award for North America for its pioneering work to commercialise quantum dot (QD) technology. QD Vision was honoured for the significant progress it made on the integration and manufacturing processes essential to the commercialisation of QD technology. Quantum dots are expected to deliver lower cost, higher energy efficiency and greater wavelength control for a wide range of products, including lamps, displays and photovoltaics. The recipients of the award are Seth Coe-Sullivan, Chief Technology Officer; Jonny Steckel, Director of Chemistry; John Ritter, Executive VP of Product Development and Operations; and Vladimir Bulovic and Moungi Bawendi, Science Advisory Board members. All five of the recipients have been with the company for at least 5 years, and as a group have invested more than 60 years into quantum dot technology. “The commercialisation of quantum dot technology, led by the team at QD Vision, opens the door to new generations of products in lighting, displays, and photovoltaics,” said Bill Bottoms, chairman of the SEMI Award Advisory Committee. “They offer greater wavelength control, improved colour purity and greater energy efficiency than any existing alternative. Quantum dots hold the promise of replacing the technologies we use in those areas today.” QD Vision says it was the first company to sell quantum dot-based products, which were integrated into general illumination lamps introduced in 2009 at LightFair International. For displays, quantum dot technology will improve the colour quality of LCDs, and subsequently become the emissive element in electroluminescent displays. In 2011, QD Vision demonstrated quantum dot device efficiencies that eclipse those of OLEDs and LCDs. Discovered in the early 1980s, quantum dots are semiconductor nanocrystals that glow when exposed to current or light. After many years of research, in the early 1990s their commercial potential began to be recognised and universities and companies began seeking patents. Quantum dots are differentiated from LCD and OLED technology in their delivery of bright, pure tuneable colours and low power consumption for displays and lighting, as well as the potential for improved efficiency for photovoltaics.