Professor Zhores Alferov of the Ioffe Institute, Russia (winner of the 2000 Nobel prize for physics), Professor Dieter Bimberg of the Technical University of Berlin and other co-workers have received the State Prize of Science and Technology 2001 from the Russian Federation for their work on quantum dots and quantum dot lasers.

"The award reflects our effort over the past few years, but there are still many discoveries to be made in the area of quantum dots," said Bimberg. "Our participation in the Dotcom project will help to accelerate these discoveries and identify the commercial possibilities."

Project co-ordinator Ortwin Hess said the award shows the timely nature of quantum dot lasers.