WASHINGTON — Today, U.S. Senators Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich and U.S. Representative Ben Ray Luján announced that UbiQD, LLC, a New Mexico-based quantum dot manufacturer, was awarded a $750,000 Phase II grant by the National Science Foundation (NSF). This two year grant award builds on an earlier 2016 NSF grant that Udall, Heinrich and Luján supported, and will help fund research and development of luminescent solar concentrating glass windows with quantum dot coatings.
The grant will help UbiQD continue to commercialize the quantum dot technology, which was originally developed at Los Alamos National Lab (LANL) and is aimed to transform windows into sources of electricity, especially at taller buildings in urban areas.
“This important investment demonstrates how technology transfer from New Mexico’s national labs provides a potent economic boost to our state,” Udall said. “And UbiQD’s groundbreaking work at the cutting-edge of solar technology is a perfect example of New Mexico’s potential to be a leader in the clean energy jobs of the future. As a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, I’ll keep working to support the essential role of our national labs and New Mexico’s emergence in the 21st century renewable energy economy.”
“UbiQD is a great example of how technology developed at our national laboratories can spur industry and create jobs in New Mexico,” said Heinrich. “This grant will support important research and development at UbiQD to strengthen the intersection of solar energy and nanotechnology. I will continue to advocate for investments that boost New Mexico as the epicenter of America's clean energy economy and encourage future innovators to discover the next breakthrough idea.”
“With two world class national laboratories in our state, New Mexico is uniquely positioned to benefit from technological breakthroughs. This grant helps highlight the need to bring technology from development in a lab to the consumer market – a process that is increasingly important to New Mexico’s continued job creation and economic growth,” said Luján. “UbiQD’s continued expansion is a testament to the value of technology transfer from New Mexico’s national labs.”
According to the company, UbiQD is a nanotechnology company that manufactures inexpensive, low-hazard quantum dots and nanocomposites in Los Alamos, N.M. Quantum dots are particularly advantageous for many applications due to their bright and strongly size-tunable color of photoluminescence-they glow under light-and compatibility with liquid solution processing, which enables low-cost manufacturing techniques. Spun out of technology developed at LANL, the company envisions a future where quantum dots are ubiquitous in a wide spectrum of applications.
