Stockholm: Isamu Akasaki and Hiroshi Amano of Japan and US scientist Shuji Nakamura on Tuesday won the Nobel Prize in physics for the invention of blue light-emitting diodes, a new energy efficient and environment-friendly light source.
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said the invention is just 20 years old, “but it has already contributed to create white light in an entirely new manner to the benefit of us all.”
Akasaki, 85, is a professor at Meijo University and distinguished professor at Nagoya University. Amano, 54, is a professor at Nagoya University, while Nakamura, 60, is a professor at the University of California.
The laureates triggered a transformation of lighting technology when they produced bright blue light from semiconductors in the 1990s that scientist had struggled with for decades, Nobel committee said.
Trio took 30 years to get white light
Three Japanese-born researchers on Tuesday won the Nobel Prize for Physics for inventing the LED lamp, a boon in the fight against global warming and aiding people in poverty.
The researchers made bright blue beams from semiconductors in the 1990s, triggering a transformation in lighting technology. Red, green diodes were there but without blue light, white lamps were impossible.
Devising the blue LED was a challenge that endured for three decades.
“They succeeded where everyone else had failed,” the Nobel jury said.
It added: “With the advent of LED lamps we now have more long-lasting and more efficient alternatives to older light sources.”
LED lamps emit a bright white light, last for tens of thousands of hours and use just a fraction of energy compared with the incandescent lightbulb pioneered by Thomas Edison in the 19th century.
The most advanced LED lamps consume 20 times as little electricity as regular bulbs.
