October 7, 2014

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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

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“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.]
 

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2014 Nobel Prize in Physics