2014 Nobel Prize in Physics for Isamu Akasaki’ego, Hiroshi Amano … – Gazeta.pl

The Nobel Committee described this year’s prize in physics somewhat poetic slogan: “For the new light that lit up the world.” This year’s winners have developed energy-saving and environmentally friendly source of light – blue light emitting diode. Isamu Akasaki received the prize, Hiroshi Amano, and Shuji Nakamura – two first worked at universities in Japan, the third – in the United States.

In the 90s, Isamu Akasaki received, Hiroshi Amano, and Shuji Nakamura made a real breakthrough in lighting technology . The semiconductor light-emitting diodes for the first time gave a clear blue light. Previously known they were giving light LED red and green, but lacked the blue color to be able to submit the components of the spectrum and create a true white light. Work on it continued for over 30 years.

Akasaki worked with Amano at the University of Nagoya, and Nakamura was employed by a small company Nichia Chemicals. Their discovery made it as far as the twentieth century was the era of incandescent light, it becomes the twenty-first century sometimes LEDs.

The advantage of these diodes called LEDs abbreviation is very low power consumption and very long life. Still being developed are becoming lighter and consume less power. Currently, the performance achieved 300 lumens per watt – a brightness comparable to 16 conventional bulbs. At the same time the LED can be for 100 000 hours, while normal light bulb around 1000, and the fluorescent lamp 10 000. As mankind consumes a quarter of the energy generated by them on the lighting, the widespread adoption of LEDs can save a lot of resources of our planet.

The winners of the Nobel Prize in Physics:

Isamu Kasaki is a Japanese born in 1929. He earned his PhD in 1964 at the University of Nagoya. He is currently a professor there.

Hiroshi Amano is a Japanese born in 1960. Doctorate in 1989, defended at the University of Nagoya, where he is a professor.

Shuji Nakamura is born in Japan in 1954, American citizen. He earned his PhD in 1994 at the University of Tokushima. He is currently a professor at the University of California at Santa Barbara.