Integrated Nanomaterials
Los Alamos discovers and develops nanomaterials, integrating them into devices for real-world applications, including quantum dot optical systems and active metamaterials to control light.

Summary
Nanoscale integration involves combining nanoscale materials—with extraordinary physical, chemical, or biological properties—with other materials to amplify their properties or obtain entirely new behaviors. LANL research has targeted the path from scientific discovery to technological impacts, founding the Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies (CINT), a DOE Nanoscale Research Center, in 2006.
LANL scientists lead the way in both photonic devices based on nanocrystal quantum dots (QDs) and functional metamaterials. Work in colloidal nanocrystal QDs has broken ground in synthetic control of nanoscale heterostructures, laser spectroscopy, optical gain, nonlinear optical effects, and multi-carrier phenomena, with applications including quantum dot lasers and single-photon sources.
Artificial metamaterials are engineered around subwavelength structures. LANL leads in metamaterials bridging the “terahertz gap,” inventing photonic devices in a region of the electromagnetic spectrum where natural materials fail and pioneering metamaterials with electrically switchable and tunable functionality, perfect absorption, broadband polarization conversion, nanoscale optoelectronic responses, nonreciprocal transmission/reflection, and on-demand quantum entanglement.
Contributing Author
Toni Taylor
References:
Optical gain in nanocrystal quantum dots:
- Optical gain and stimulated emission in nanocrystal quantum dots, Klimov, V. I., A. A. Mikhailovsky, S. Xu, et al. Science 290, no. 5490 (2000): 314–317.
- High Efficiency Carrier Multiplication in PbSe Nanocrystals: Implications for Solar Energy Conversion, Schaller, R. D., and V. I. Klimov. Physical Review Letters 92 (2004): 186601.
Quantum dots with suppressed blinking for continuous operation:
- 'Giant' multishell CdSe nanocrystal quantum dots with suppressed blinking, Chen, Y., J. Vela, H. Htoon, et al. Journal of the American Chemical Society 130, no. 15, (2008): 5026.
Quantum dot single photon emitters for telecommunications:
- PbS/CdS Quantum Dot Room-Temperature Single-Emitter Spectroscopy Reaches the Telecom O and S Bands via an Engineered Stability, Krishnamurthy, S., A. Singh, Z. Hu, et al. ACS Nano 15 (2021): 575.
- Room-Temperature Fiber-Coupled Single-Photon Sources based on Colloidal Quantum Dots and SiV Centers in Back-Excited Nanoantennas. Lubotzky, B., A. Nazarov, H. Abudayyeh, et al. Nano Letters 24 (2024): 640.
Quantum-dot amplified spontaneous emission devices:
- Electrically driven amplified spontaneous emission from colloidal quantum dots. Ahn, N., C. Livache, V. Pinchetti, et al. Nature 617 (2023): 79.
- Colloidal quantum dots enable liquid-state lasers. Hahm, D., V. Pinchetti, C. Livanche, et al. Nature Materials 24 (2024): 48.
Review of metasurface physics and applications:
- A review of metasurfaces: physics and applications. H.-T. Chen, A. J. Taylor, and N. Yu. Reports on Progress in Physics 79, no.7 (2016): 076401.
Metamaterial modulation at terahertz frequencies:
- Active terahertz metamaterial devices. H.-T. Chen, W. J. Padilla, J. M. O. Zide, A. C. Gossard, A. J. Taylor, and R. D. Averitt. Nature 444, no. 7119 (2006): 597–600.
Metasurface-based flat optics at terahertz frequencies:
- Terahertz metamaterials for linear polarization conversion and anomalous refraction. N. K. Grady, J. E. Heyes, D. Roy Chowdhury, et al. Science 340, no. 6138 (2013): 1304–1307.
Linear to circular polarization conversion based on metasurfaces:
- Broadband linear-to circular polarization conversion enabled by birefringent off-resonance reflective metasurfaces. C.-C. Chang, Z. Zhao, D. Li, A. J. Taylor, S. Fan, and H.-T. Chen. Physical Review Letters 123, no. 23 (2019): 237401.
Nonreciprocal reflection and transmission based on metasurfaces:
- Surface-wave-assisted nonreciprocity in spatio-temporally modulated metasurfaces. A. E. Cardin, S. R. Silva, S. R. Vardeny, et al. Nature Communications 11 (2020): 1469.
Metasurface vectorial terahertz emission:
- Light-driven nanoscale vectorial currents. J. Pettine, P. Padmanabhan, T. Shi, et al. Nature 626 (2024): 984–989.