2014 Nobel Prize in Physics
Isamu Akasaki, Hiroshi Amano and Shuji Nakamura share the physics Nobel for the invention of efficient blue light–emitting diodes, which has enabled bright and energy-saving white light sources. Steve Mirsky reports
By Steve Mirsky
SUBSCRIBE TO Science Quickly
On supporting science journalism
If you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.
“This year’s prize is about light.” Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences Permanent Secretary Staffan Normark.
“The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided to award the 2014 Nobel Prize in Physics to Professor Isamu Akasaki at Meijo University, Nagoya, and Nagoya University, Japan; Professor Hiroshi Amanoat Nagoya University, Japan; and Professor Shuji Nakamura at University of California, Santa Barbara, for the invention of efficient blue light–emitting diodes which has enabled bright and energy-saving white light sources. Professor Per Delsing will now give us a short summary.”
“Red and green LEDs have been around for many years, but the blue was really missing. This lamp contains three LEDs: one red, one green and one blue. If you combine these colors you get white light. This is something that Isaac Newton showed already in 1671. Thanks to the blue LED, we can now get white light sources which have very high energy efficiency and very long lifetime. This LED technology is now replacing older technologies. In fact, many of you carry this technology in your pocket. The flashlight and also the screen of modern smartphones uses LED technology.”
For a more in-depth listen about the 2014 Nobel Prize in Physics, look for the Scientific American Science Talk podcast later this morning.
—Steve Mirsky
[The above text is a transcript of this podcast.]
Subscribe to Support Independent Journalism
Great science journalism requires human expertise, time, effort and creativity. And it costs money. That’s why I and the journalists here at Scientific American hope you’ll join our community.
When you subscribe, you are supporting staff and freelance journalists who are passionate about telling science stories that are true, important and compelling. Our editors and reporters are often experts in their fields, which means they understand the nuances of big discoveries and can untangle the breakthroughs from the hype. With a subscription, you are also supporting rigorous fact-checking to ensure the words we publish are precise and accurate. And you’re supporting original illustrations, graphics and photos that bring you closer to an advanced laboratory, an ice sheet in Antarctica or a space mission in orbit. You’re helping us craft other types of high-quality journalism as well: Our newsletters are carefully written, edited and curated by staffers you have or will come to know and love. Our Science Quickly podcast is based on original reporting, collaboration with editors and scientists and exacting production.
Subscriptions keep this engine running so we can continue to deliver thoughtful, rigorous and independent science journalism to you. In an era of viral misinformation, this work is crucial. If you value what we do, I hope you’ll consider joining us as a subscriber
