Speakers: Alan Schmidt and Philip Sowders are both members of the Scientech Club. Each has an extensive resume in their respective fields.
Dr. Alan Schmidt will present the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2023 awarded to Moungi Bawendi, Louis Brus, and Aleksey Yekimov for the discovery and synthesis of quantum dots. Ekimov and Brus suceeded in creating quantum dots, and Bawendi revolutionized the chemical production. Quantum dots now illuminate computer monitors and television screens based on QLED technology.
Philip Sowders will present the Nobel Prize in Physics 2023 for flashes of light short enough to take snapshots of electrons' extremely rapid movements. Anne L'Huillier discovered a new effect from laser light's interaction with atoms in a gas. Pierre Agostini and Ferenc Krausz demonstrated that this effect can be used to create shorter pulses of light than were previously possible.
To see a video of todays presentation click the link below:
Today's program 090924
Program: Live and Zoom: 2023 Nobel Prizes in Physics and Chemistry.
Speakers: Alan Schmidt, PhD, chemical engineer (retired), STC member; Philip Sowders, PhD, psychologist, STC member.
Introduced By: Andy Raterman
Attendance: NESC 81, Zoom 20
Guest(s): Mike Crumbo
Scribe: Alan Schmidt
Editor: Ruth Schmidt
You may also view a recording of today’s Zoom presentation in the Videos of Past meetings page on the Scientech website.
2023 Nobel Prize in Chemistry
Moungi G. Bawendi, Louis E. Brus, and Aleksey Yekimov were awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2023 for the discovery and development of quantum dots. They discovered quantum size effects in colloidal nanocrystals and stimulated significant research efforts devoted to understanding their optical and photochemical properties. These tiny particles have unique optical properties and now spread their light from television screens and QLED lamps. They catalyze chemical reactions, and their clear light can illuminate tumor tissue for a surgeon. See https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/chemistry/2023/popular-information/.
Size matters on the nanoscale. In the nanoworld, 1 – 100 nanometers (nanometer = 10-9or one thousandth millionth of a meter) strange phenomena start to occur – quantum effects – that challenge our intuition. In the early 1980s, Louis Brus and Aleksey Yekimov succeeded in creating quantum dots, which are nanoparticles so tiny that quantum effects determine their characteristics. In 1993, Moungi Bawendi revolutionized the methods for manufacturing quantum dots, making their quality extremely high.
Nanotechnology involves semiconductor physics, organic and inorganic chemistry, molecular biology, and biotechnology. Applications range from modern electronics to industrial scale catalysis, and from precision medicine to quantum technology. Today, many large research universities have centers or departments dedicated to nanoscience and nanotechnology.
Nanotechnology and nanoparticles have been used for centuries. A hair-blackening recipe originating from the Greco-Roman period has been shown to work by the formation of 5-nm PbS nanocrystals inside the hair cortex. The Roman Lycurgus cup red color comes from enclosed gold particles in the size range 5–60 nm. Classical Mie scattering (particle size is comparable to light wavelength) changes the color of transmitted light. Coloring of glass by adding CdS or CdSe to silicate glass in amorphous, supersaturated solutions was due to nucleation and growth of crystallites. Glass color could be varied by changing the synthesis and annealing procedures.
The modern field of nanoscience requires precise and ideally atom-level control of the synthesis of nanostructures. It requires the ability to fabricate materials at nanometer size with sub-nanometer precision and high fidelity, safely, in benchtop chemical batch reactions. This year’s Laureates played a central role in establishing these capabilities and provided seeds for the rich field of nanoscience to grow.
2023 Nobel Prize in Physics
The Nobel Prize in Physics 2023 was awarded to Pierre Agostini, Ferenc Krausz and Anne L’Huillier "for experimental methods that generate attosecond pulses of light for the study of electron dynamics in matter". See https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/2023/popular-information/
Anne L'Huillier (1987) discovered a new effect from laser light's interaction with atoms in a gas. With further experimentation she got the waves to overlap so they amplify and cancel each other out that gave rise to short wave pulses. Pierre Agostini (2021) and Ferenc Krausz demonstrated that this effect creates shorter pulses of light than were previously possible. A laser shining through a noble gas can create higher harmonics of light waves, which overlap to make wave pulses. Attosecond pulses measure the time it takes for an electron to be tugged away from an atom, and how tightly the electron is bound to the atom’s nucleus.
Attosecond physics has applications in chemistry, biology, medicine, and computers. By looking at electrons and molecules, scientists can better understand interactions between molecules. Scientists use this information to study biological samples to better understand how materials behave. Understanding infections through looking at changes in the molecules in blood allows scientists to develop better drugs and medicines and develop screening mechanisms to better detect diseases. Scientists may be able to determine molecular changes in blood cells that could indicate the presence of cancer cells forming, along with other diseases.
It is hoped that experiments lead to faster computers. Another potential application is using ultra-fast light pulses to switch an insulator into a conductor in a femtosecond (10-15) which could aid computers which operate in picoseconds (10-12), thus improving the computing speed of the computer. Research and technology build on each other.
Program: Live and Zoom: 2023 Nobel Prizes in Physics and Chemistry.
Speakers: Alan Schmidt, PhD, chemical engineer (retired), STC member; Philip Sowders, PhD, psychologist, STC member.
Introduced By: Andy Raterman
Attendance: NESC 81, Zoom 20
Guest(s): Mike Crumbo
Scribe: Alan Schmidt
Editor: Ruth Schmidt
View a recording of today’s Zoom presentation in the new member section of the Scientech website.
2023 Nobel Prize in Chemistry
Moungi G. Bawendi, Louis E. Brus, and Aleksey Yekimov were awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2023 for the discovery and development of quantum dots. They discovered quantum size effects in colloidal nanocrystals and stimulated significant research efforts devoted to understanding their optical and photochemical properties. These tiny particles have unique optical properties and now spread their light from television screens and QLED lamps. They catalyze chemical reactions, and their clear light can illuminate tumor tissue for a surgeon. See https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/chemistry/2023/popular-information/.
Size matters on the nanoscale. In the nanoworld, 1 – 100 nanometers (nanometer = 10-9or one thousandth millionth of a meter) strange phenomena start to occur – quantum effects – that challenge our intuition. In the early 1980s, Louis Brus and Aleksey Yekimov succeeded in creating quantum dots, which are nanoparticles so tiny that quantum effects determine their characteristics. In 1993, Moungi Bawendi revolutionized the methods for manufacturing quantum dots, making their quality extremely high.
Nanotechnology involves semiconductor physics, organic and inorganic chemistry, molecular biology, and biotechnology. Applications range from modern electronics to industrial scale catalysis, and from precision medicine to quantum technology. Today, many large research universities have centers or departments dedicated to nanoscience and nanotechnology.
Nanotechnology and nanoparticles have been used for centuries. A hair-blackening recipe originating from the Greco-Roman period has been shown to work by the formation of 5-nm PbS nanocrystals inside the hair cortex. The Roman Lycurgus cup red color comes from enclosed gold particles in the size range 5–60 nm. Classical Mie scattering (particle size is comparable to light wavelength) changes the color of transmitted light. Coloring of glass by adding CdS or CdSe to silicate glass in amorphous, supersaturated solutions was due to nucleation and growth of crystallites. Glass color could be varied by changing the synthesis and annealing procedures.
The modern field of nanoscience requires precise and ideally atom-level control of the synthesis of nanostructures. It requires the ability to fabricate materials at nanometer size with sub-nanometer precision and high fidelity, safely, in benchtop chemical batch reactions. This year’s Laureates played a central role in establishing these capabilities and provided seeds for the rich field of nanoscience to grow.
2023 Nobel Prize in Physics
The Nobel Prize in Physics 2023 was awarded to Pierre Agostini, Ferenc Krausz and Anne L’Huillier "for experimental methods that generate attosecond pulses of light for the study of electron dynamics in matter". See https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/2023/popular-information/
Anne L'Huillier (1987) discovered a new effect from laser light's interaction with atoms in a gas. With further experimentation she got the waves to overlap so they amplify and cancel each other out that gave rise to short wave pulses. Pierre Agostini (2021) and Ferenc Krausz demonstrated that this effect creates shorter pulses of light than were previously possible. A laser shining through a noble gas can create higher harmonics of light waves, which overlap to make wave pulses. Attosecond pulses measure the time it takes for an electron to be tugged away from an atom, and how tightly the electron is bound to the atom’s nucleus.
Attosecond physics has applications in chemistry, biology, medicine, and computers. By looking at electrons and molecules, scientists can better understand interactions between molecules. Scientists use this information to study biological samples to better understand how materials behave. Understanding infections through looking at changes in the molecules in blood allows scientists to develop better drugs and medicines and develop screening mechanisms to better detect diseases. Scientists may be able to determine molecular changes in blood cells that could indicate the presence of cancer cells forming, along with other diseases.
It is hoped that experiments lead to faster computers. Another potential application is using ultra-fast light pulses to switch an insulator into a conductor in a femtosecond (10-15) which could aid computers which operate in picoseconds (10-12), thus improving the computing speed of the computer. Research and technology build on each other.
