Illustration of the Russian physicist Alexei Ekimov (born 1945). Ekimov is best known for his discovery of quantum dots, which are nanoparticles of semiconductor material that emit photons when excited. The size of the quantum dot changes the wavelength of photon emitted, and therefore the colour. Ekimov was awarded a share of the 2023 Noble Prize in Chemistry along with Louis Brus (who discovered quantum dots independently of Ekimov) and Moungi Bawendi for his discovery.