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Quantum dots are semiconductor crystals each made of as little as a few dozen atoms. When quantum dots absorb energy, because they are so tiny, there is usually virtually nothing else for the energy to do except reemerge as light, a quality that has driven Samsung, Hisense, Sharp, LG and other television manufacturers to explore TVs and other displays based on quantum dots.

Quantum dots can also convert energy into electric current, and last year MIT researchers showed quantum dots could help significantly boost solar cell efficiencies. Now a team of physicists at the University of Würzburg in Germany and the University of St. Andrews in Scotland reveal that a microscopic device based on quantum dots can generate electricity by harvesting waste heat from electronic circuits, which comes in the form of tiny random fluctuations of voltage and current.