http://www.springerlink.com/11467

Cover：The recent research on semiconductor quantum dots follows naturally the evolution of semiconductor technology from transistors based on bulk silicon and lasers based on bulk gallium arsenide to field effect transistors and quantum-well lasers. Semiconductor quantum dots are a natural step forward in allowing for the control of material composition in three dimensions and at the nanoscale with atomic precision. Simultaneously, the recent isolation of a single, atomically thick carbon graphene layer opened a new field of nanoelectronics based on carbon. Since graphene is a semimetal and does not have a gap, size quantization opens an energy gap and turns graphene into a semiconductor. However, the gap in graphene quantum dots, unlike in semiconductor quantum dots, can be tuned from zero to perhaps even the gap of the benzene ring. The researchers from the National Research Council of Canada will present a review of their recent work towards the understanding of electronic and optical properties of semiconductor and graphene quantum dots. More details could be found in the article “ Electronic and optical properties of semiconductor and graphene quantum dots ” by Wei-dong Sheng et al., pp 328－352. [Photo credits: Wei-dong Sheng at Fudan University, China, and Pawel Hawrylak at National Research Council of Canada]

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