Because of the diminutiveness of the scale,‭ ‬objects/molecules that are created at this level,‭ ‬have different properties than what most people expect to see at the more familiar large-scale level.  Some of these properties relate to the fact that the sizes of the nano-particles are below the scattering limit of visible light.  These features of the nano-particle relate to mechanical strength,‭ ‬scratch resistance,‭ ‬inflammability,‭ ‬reflection and absorbance of UV light. This can be significant in terms of using the nano-particle for fluorescence markers.

Another characteristic relates to the fact that due to the small size of the particle,‭ ‬it will consequently have a large surface area.  This is important because the increase of surface area can aid in the particle’s reactivity to reagents and catalysts. The importance of this can be found in the potential for drug and immunological studies.  Other types of research in using nano-scale particles include,‭ ‬computing systems,‭ ‬carbon nano-tubes,‭ ‬read/write diamond data storage systems and miniature machines‭ (‬nanorobots.‭)‬

One region within nanotechnology that is of particular interest in this lab has been quantum dots.‎  ‏Quantum dots can be thought of as nano-sized devices that have free electrons.  The quantum dot structure’s size and shape can be controlled so therefore the number of electrons that it can contain varies according to the researcher’s requirements. The quantum dot behaves similarly to that of an atom,‭ ‬mostly in terms of energy quantization.  The important aspect of quantum dots is that these devices can be connected to electrodes‭ (‬unlike atoms‭) ‬and therefore be used to aid in the study of properties of these materials/devices.

But specifically what is a quantum dot‎?  ‏A quantum dot could be thought of a nano-sized piece of a semiconductor that displays quantum-like properties. What properties does a semiconductor add to the feature sets of a quantum dot‭?  ‬A semiconductor is a material,‭ ‬which is neither totally insulating nor totally conductive at non-zero temperatures.  The reason for this is due to its structure of a gap between its valence‭ (‬almost full band at non-zero temperatures‭) ‬and its conduction band‭ (‬almost empty‭)‬.  If a photon has a higher energy than this gap between the valence and conduction bands‭ (‬band gap‭)‬,‭ ‬a charge carrier will be generated stemming from the transition of the electrons between the two bands.  Photons can be passed through the bandgap and consequently emitted.  This emission depends upon the arrangement of the atoms and of the peripheral electron energies. There are two types of semiconductors,‭ ‬n and p types.  The two types depend upon what type of dopant‭ (‬chemical impurity‭) ‬has been added to the semiconductor.  N-dopants introduce more electrons and p-dopants create electron vacancies,‭ ‬i.e. holes.

Aspects of a quantum dot also encompass the field/theory of quantum mechanics.  Quantum theory attempts to describe the behavior of particles‭ (‬matter and energy‭) ‬at a small scale.