The tiny crystals, Which are 100 000 times smaller than the width of a human hair, can be printed onto flexible plastic sheets to produce a paper-thin display that can be easily carried around, or even onto wallpaper to create giant room-size screens.
The scientists hope the first quantum dot televisions - flat-screen TVs like current, but with improved color and thinner displays - will be available in shops by the end of next year. A flexible version is expected to take at least three years to reach the market.
Michael Edelman, chief executive of Nanoco, a spin out company set up by the scientists behind the technology at Manchester University, said: "We are working with some major Asian electronics companies The first products we are expecting to come to market using quantum dots. will be the next generation of flat-screen televisions.
"The real advantage provided by quantum dots, however, is that they can be printed on to a plastic sheet that can rolled up It is likely these will be small personal devices to begin with.
