A quantum dot is a potential well that confines electrons in three dimensions to a region of the order of the electrons' de Broglie wavelength in size, a few nanometers in a semiconductor. Compare to quantum wires and quantum wells.

Because of the confinement, electrons in the quantum dot have quantized, discrete energy levels, much like an atom. For this reason, quantum dots are sometimes called "artificial atoms". The energy levels can be controlled by changing the size and shape of the quantum dot, and the depth of the potential.

Fabrication

In semiconductors, quantum dots are small regions of one material buried in another with a larger band gap. Quantum dots occur accidentally in quantum well structures due to monolayer fluctuations in the well's thickness. Densely-packed quantum dots form spontaneously under certain conditions during molecular beam epitaxy when a material is grown on a substrate to which it is not lattice matched. The resulting strain results in pyramid-shaped quantum dots grown in the interface between the materials.

Individual quantum dots can be created by a technique called electron beam lithography, in which a pattern is etched onto a semiconductor chip, and conducting metal is then deposited onto the pattern.

Applications

Being quasi-zero dimensional, quantum dots have a sharper density of states than higher-dimensional structures. As a result, they have superior transport and optical properties, and are being researched for use in diode lasers and detectors.

Quantum dots are one of the most hopeful candidates for quantum computation. By applying small voltages to your leads, you can control the flow of electrons through the quantum dot and thereby make precise measurements of the spin and other properties of the quantum dot.

With several entangled quantum dots (qubits), plus a way of performing operations, quantum calculations might be possible.