Quantum dots for sensing

Quantum confinement has become a powerful tool for creating new materials with extraordinary properties. Since 1980s, the quantum effects on materials have become relevant as far as the scientific community has focused its attention on smaller devices. When certain particle scale is trespassed, quantum confinement effects start to play a relevant role in the macroscopic properties of the matter. Since their beginning, quantum-confined structures have been widely used in optoelectronic device technology rather than in sensor applications. Nevertheless, sensor applications based on quantum dots experiment a real boost thanks to the semiconductor nanocrystals. The possibility of having high-quality, industrially scaled-up, biocompatible quantum dot nanocrystals has supposed a real breakthrough in the biological and medical fields. Quantum dots significantly improve the sensing tools in applications such as cellular assays, cancer detection, or DNA sequencing. This chapter summarizes the state of the art of the use of quantum dots in the sensor field.