Invented at Hiroshima University, Japan, the quantum dot (QD) LED lighting system is a light-emitting diode using silicon quantum dot solutions and a polymer solution on top of an indium-tin-oxide (ITO) glass ply that was used as the anode for the LED. The silicon quantum dot solution is placed in the bottom of a glass vial that sits on a rotating stage; it's then synthesized through laser ablation with a 1-octyne solution over several eight-hour periods.

Quantum dots are nanocrystals that emit light when "excited" based on their size and replace red, green and blue sub-pixels when implemented in QLED TVs. Although they cost more up-front than traditional LCD TVs, they are cost-efficient and color-effective on the long run.

However, researchers from the University of Toronto have figured out how to make quantum dots more accessible to manufacturers while being profitable in the same time. They combined them with a new material in photovoltaics, the perovskite.

Perovskite could become an essential LCD material

Apparently, perovskite helps quantum dots efficiently emit light by transferring the light in a very narrow band of the spectrum with accurate colors through the perovskite that can absorb that light with excellent ability and in very thin layers. In other words, it is the best light transmitter that comes from the electrically excited quantum dots.

The two crystalline structures aren't easy to mix, however, as they will tend to form separate phases that don't interact well, while the aim is to form a smooth transition from one material to another for the light to keep its clear quality for the desired time. To successfully combine the two crystals, the researchers built a nanoscale scaffoldingaround the quantum dots in a colloidal solutions. The perovskite crystals were then grown around the shell so the ends of the crystals would link up correctly.

The result is a mixed material that uses perovskite to funnel the light emitted by quantum dots. The light is programmed on certain wavelengths to offer the best possible color accuracy. Although the base material exists at the moment, no device has been built based on it.