Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Pages: 28. Chapters: Quantum dot, Surface states, Heterojunction, P-n junction, Ohmic contact, Depletion region, Silicon on insulator, Metal-induced gap states, Quantum well, Schottky barrier, Metal-semiconductor junction, Quantum wire, Anderson's rule, Shallow trench isolation, P-n junction isolation, Gate oxide, Double heterostructure, Band bending, Deep-level trap, Metal gate, Gate dielectric, Homojunction, Quantum heterostructure, Band offset. Excerpt: A quantum dot is a portion of matter (e.g. semiconductor) whose excitons are confined in all three spatial dimensions. Consequently, such materials have electronic properties intermediate between those of bulk semiconductors and those of discrete molecules. They were discovered at the beginning of the 1980s by Alexei Ekimov in a glass matrix and by Louis E. Brus in colloidal solutions. The term "quantum dot" was coined by Mark Reed. Researchers have studied quantum dots in transistors, solar cells, LEDs, and diode lasers. They have also investigated quantum dots as agents for medical imaging and hope to use them as qubits. Stated simply, quantum dots are semiconductors whose electronic characteristics are closely related to the size and shape of the individual crystal. Generally, the smaller the size of the crystal, the larger the band gap, the greater the difference in energy between the highest valence band and the lowest conduction band becomes, therefore more energy is needed to excite the dot, and concurrently, more energy is released when the crystal returns to its resting state. For example, in fluorescent dye applications, this equates to higher frequencies of light emitted after excitation of the dot as the crystal size grows smaller, resulting in a color shift from red to blue in the light emitted. In addition to such tuning, a main advantage with quantum dots is that, becau...