The 2023 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded on Wednesday to a trio composed of Moungi Bawendi, Louis Brus and Alexei Ekimov, born respectively in France, the United States and the USSR and all three working in the United States on nanoparticles.
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The committee rewarded work on “the discovery and development of quantum dots, nanoparticles so small that their size determines their properties,” according to the jury.
The winners, whose names had leaked to the Swedish press a few hours before the official announcement, were recognized “for the discovery and synthesis of quantum dots”.
The leaking of Nobel names is rare, with the Academies responsible for choosing the winners taking care to keep their debates secret.
Quantum dots, also called quantum dots, are semiconductor nanocrystals, typically 2 to 10 nanometers in diameter.
These very small components of nanotechnology today diffuse light from TVs and LEDs and can also guide surgeons when removing tumor tissue, according to the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences’ statement.
“The winners of the 2023 Nobel Prize in Chemistry have succeeded in producing particles so small that their properties are determined by quantum phenomena,” she explains.
These particles, called quantum dots, are now of great importance in the field of nanotechnology.
“Very surprised, sleepy, shocked, and very honored,” reacted hotly Moungi Bawendi, 62, professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
For the winners of the 2023 vintage, the check accompanying the prize is now for eleven million crowns (920,000 euros), the highest nominal value (in Swedish currency) in the more than century-old history of the Nobels.