This is a 10x photograph of long fluorescent ribbons constructed from thousands of semiconducting quantum dot nanoparticles, which are about 10,000x smaller in diameter than a human hair. Using a fluorescence technique, Jonathan T. Pham and Catherine Russell of the University of Massachusetts Materials Research Science and Engineering Center, Amherst, Mass. were able to produce their Image of Distinction in the 2012 Nikon Small World Photomicrophotography Competition.
