Doped quantum dots, semiconductor nanocrystals with strategically added impurities, have potential for applications in photovoltaic devices and other photonic and optoelectronic technologies. Despite their promise, the challenge lies in determining the best combination of doped quantum dots to maximize the efficiency of converting UV light into desired wavelengths.

Researcher Milad Abolhasani from the University of North Carolina said:

These doped quantum dots are semiconductor nanocrystals with dot addition of certain impurities that change their optical and physicochemical properties.

In response to the decade-long challenge to identify the most efficient doped quantum dots, Abolhasani’s team developed: SmartDopeAn autonomous system designed to quickly sort through options compared to human capabilities.

Robo Laboratory reached results through experiments

Researchers instructed SmartDope on the precursor chemicals to use and determined the desired outcome. Doped perovskite quantum dots with highest quantum efficiency. Quantum efficiency measures the ratio of emitted photons (in the infrared or visible spectrum) to absorbed photons (in ultraviolet light).

SmartDope realized Autonomous experiments in a flow reactor, controlling variables such as relative amount of precursor, mixing temperature, and reaction time in each iteration. After each process, the system independently analyzed the properties of the resulting quantum dots.

An autonomous laboratory surpassed human effort

It is noteworthy that SmartDope achieved a quantum yield within one day by establishing a method for synthesizing doped quantum dots from perovskite. 158%. This broke the previous record of 130% for this class of quantum dots. Scientists emphasized that researchers needed years of experiments to reach such a result.

This breakthrough creates new opportunities for the development and application of quantum dot technology in various fields.