STOCKHOLM, October 7. /TASS/. The Nobel Prize for Physics has been awarded this year to three Japanese professors for the invention of blue light-emitting diodes (LEDs) “which has enabled bright and energy-saving white light sources.”
Isamu Akasaki, 85, of Japan, is a professor at Meijo University, Nagoya, and a distinguished professor at Nagoya University. Hiroshi Amano, 54, of Japan, also lectures there. Shuji Nakamura, a 60-year-old Japanese-American, is a professor in the College of Engineering at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Judges said the new source was brighter, cleaner and longer-lasting than older technology, saving energy and improving quality of life for millions around the world.
Red and green light-emitting diodes have existed for decades, but without blue light, white lamps could not be created, the awarding academy said in its prize citation. Working together and separately, the three scientists had devised bright blue beams from their semiconductors and launched “fundamental transformation in light technology.”
The Nobel committee declared, “Incandescent light bulbs lit the 20th century; the 21st century will be lit by LED lamps."
“The LED lamp holds great promise for increasing quality of life for over 1.5 billion people around the world who lack access to electricity grids,” the judges said. “Due to low power requirements, it can be powered by cheap local solar power."