Energy-Saving LED Lights Win Nobel Physics Prize

The three scientists were the first to master the intricate layering of semiconductor materials needed to create blue-light emitting diodes.

Oliver Staley, David Wainer And Alex Webb - BLOOMBERG - October 7, 2014



Three Japan-born scientists won the Nobel Prize in Physics for inventing energy-saving LED lights, which have upended a multibillion-dollar industry while offering the promise of lighting to people living far from an electricity grid.



Isamu Akasaki, 85, from Meijo and Nagoya Universities, Hiroshi Amano, 54, from Nagoya, and Shuji Nakamura, 60, from the University of California at Santa Barbara, will share the 8 million-krona ($1.1 million) prize for the invention of blue-light emitting diodes, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said today in Stockholm.



The work “triggered a fundamental transformation of lighting technology,” the academy said in a statement. “Incandescent light bulbs lit the 20th century, the 21st century will be lit by LED lamps.” ... [Read More]

Energy-Saving LED Lights Win Nobel Physics Prize