Colloidal quantum dots (QDs) are often referred to as “artificial atoms” because they exhibit many analogies to real atoms, including their ability to self-assemble into crystalline structures with tailored properties, known as supercrystals. However, currently accessible QD supercrystals still exhibit low crystalline quality, which is due to the particular difficulties associated with crystallizing macromolecular building blocks such as QDs. The current stage of development of QD supercrystals is comparable to the early days of protein crystallization, a subdiscipline of structural biology that has produced many decades of continuous development of specialized techniques addressing the specific requirements of macromolecular crystallization.

The main objective of my project is to adapt such techniques for the fabrication of QD supercrystals with previously unattainable crystalline quality. To this end, I am collaborating with leading experts in the field of macromolecular crystallization to identify those techniques with the greatest potential for the growth of QD supercrystals. QD supercrystals with enhanced crystalline quality obtained in this way would find application in optical data communication as ultra-bright light sources with gigahertz bandwidth.