• Question: could someone make a tv screen that's 2 atoms thick

    Asked by 4rch13b0113n to Alessandra, Dimitrios, Niamh, Becky, Stacey, Tony on 19 Jun 2017.
    • Photo: Stacey Marple

      Stacey Marple answered on 19 Jun 2017:

      Hi, well it would depend on the crystal structure of the material but given that nano particles (usually sized between 1 to 100 nanometers. 1 nanometer is a millionth millionth of a millimetre!) have a few hundred atoms in their structures it seems unlikely. Fluorescent quantum-dot nanoparticles are being used thou to improve picture quality and LG has a super thin tv (2.6mm thick) called a wallpaper tv.

    • Photo: Niamh Ryall

      Niamh Ryall answered on 20 Jun 2017:

      Probably not. How would you make the electrical connections? Stacey describes quantum dot TVs well, and they are sometimes called “artificial atoms”. They are so small that instead of the electrons being able to zoom about however they like like in big materials, the electrons have to behave like they do in atoms, stuck in energy levels. So then they can jump between them like in atoms and you get great light absorption. The advantage is you can change their colour by changing their size rather than having to change the material.

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