Fluid phase endocytic uptake of external solutes in plant cells was further substantiated using artificial polystyrene nano-spheres (40 nm) and CdSe/ZnS quantum dots (20 nm). Both types of artificial nano-particles were taken up by sycamore-cultured cells. However, whereas polystyrene nano-spheres were delivered to the central vacuole, CdSe/ZnS nano-dots were sequestered into cytoplasmic vesicu...

Strong confinement of charges in few-electron systems such as in atoms, molecules, and quantum dots leads to a spectrum of discrete energy levels often shared by several degenerate states. Because the electronic structure is key to understanding their chemical properties, methods that probe these energy levels in situ are important. We show how electrostatic force detection using atomic force m...

Recent advances in nanomaterials have produced a new class of fluorescent labels by conjugating semiconductor quantum dots with biorecognition molecules. These nanometer-sized conjugates are water-soluble and biocompatible, and provide important advantages over organic dyes and lanthanide probes. In particular, the emission wavelength of quantum-dot nanocrystals can be continuously tuned by cha...

nanomaterials (nms) are widely used in health and biomedical applications, however, only a few studies investigate their toxic effects.  the present report signifies a contribution to the study of the toxic effects of silver nanoparticles (ag nps)  on   e. coli cells, which is a model organism of anthropogenic pollution. the toxicity of nanoparticles depends on their  chemical and surface prope...

The size distribution of self-assembled InAs quantum dots grown on (001) InP under the StranskiKrastanow growth mode is controlled using selective area/chemical beam epitaxy, which allows the formation of quantum dots at specific locations. As the dimensions of the patterned areas are decreased from 1000 nm down to 50 nm or less, scanning electron microscopy reveals a gradual increase in the sp...

We report results of both strain-driven surface segregation of indium from InGaAs thin films as well as selective area epitaxy of InAs quantum dots using these films. InAs segregation from an underlying InGaAs film allows for preferential growth of quantum dots when additional InAs is deposited. By using standard lithography techniques, a two-step selective growth process for quantum dots is ac...

Magnetic semiconductor quantum dots with a few carriers represent an interesting model system where ferromagnetic interactions can be tuned by voltage. By designing the geometry of a doped quantum dot, one can tailor the anisotropic quantum states of magnetic polarons. The strong anisotropy of magnetic polaron states in disklike quantum dots with holes comes from the spin splitting in the valen...

Carbon quantum dots (CQDs) serve as a new class of ‘zero dimensional’ nanomaterial’s in thecarbon class with sizes below 10 nm. As light emitting nanocrystals, QDs are assembled from semiconductormaterials, from the elements in the periodic groups of II-VI, III-V or IV-VI, mainly thanks to impacts of quantum confinement QDs have unique optical properties such as brighter, highly pho...

We define two laterally gated small quantum dots (∼ 15 electrons) in an Aharonov-Bohm geometry in which the coupling between the two dots can be broadly changed. For weakly coupled quantum dots we find Aharonov-Bohm oscillations. In an intermediate coupling regime we concentrate on the molecular states of the double dot and extract the magnetic field dependence of the coherent coupling.

The spontaneous-emission lifetime of CdSe/CdS core-shell quantum dots was studied as a function of the distance between the dots and a polished Si surface. The experimental results reveal a significant modification of the spontaneous-emission rate of the quantum dots by the Si surface.