PRESS RELEASE
`
`7 October 2014
`
`The Nobel Prize in Physics 2014
`
`The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided to award the Nobel Prize in Physics for 2014 to
`
`Isamu Akasaki
`Meijo University, Nagoya, Japan
`and Nagoya University, Japan
`
`Hiroshi Amano
`Nagoya University, Japan
`
`
` Shuji Nakamura
`
`University of California,
`
`Santa Barbara, CA, USA
`
`“for the invention of efficient blue light-emitting diodes which has enabled
`bright and energy-saving white light sources”
`
`is just over 300 lm/W, which can be compared to 16
`for regular light bulbs and close to 70 for fluores-
`cent lamps. As about one fourth of world electricity
`consumption is used for lighting purposes, the LEDs
`contribute to saving the Earth’s resources. Materials
`consumption is also diminished as LEDs last up to
`100,000 hours, compared to 1,000 for incandescent
`bulbs and 10,000 hours for fluorescent lights.
`
`The LED lamp holds great promise for increasing the
`quality of life for over 1.5 billion people around the world
`who lack access to electricity grids: due to low power
`requirements it can be powered by cheap local solar power.
`
`The invention of the efficient blue LED is just twenty
`years old, but it has already contributed to create white
`light in an entirely new manner to the benefit of us all.
`
`Isamu Akasaki, Japanese citizen. Born 1929 in Chiran, Japan.
`Ph.D. 1964 from Nagoya University, Japan. Professor at Meijo
`University, Nagoya, and Distinguished Professor at Nagoya
`University, Japan.
`http://en.nagoya-u.ac.jp/people/distinguished_award_recipients/
`nagoya_university_distinguished_professor_isamu_akasaki.html
`
`Hiroshi Amano, Japanese citizen. Born 1960 in Hamamatsu,
`Japan. Ph.D. 1989 from Nagoya University, Japan. Professor at
`Nagoya University, Japan.
`http://profs.provost.nagoya-u.ac.jp/view/html/100001778_en.html
`
`Shuji Nakamura, American citizen. Born 1954 in Ikata, Japan.
`Ph.D. 1994 from University of Tokushima, Japan. Professor at
`University of California, Santa Barbara, CA, USA.
`www.sslec.ucsb.edu/nakamura/
`
`New light to illuminate the world
`This year’s Nobel Laureates are rewarded for
`having invented a new energy-efficient and envi-
`ronment-friendly light source – the blue light-
`emitting diode (LED). In the spirit of Alfred Nobel
`the Prize rewards an invention of greatest benefit
`to mankind; using blue LEDs, white light can be
`created in a new way. With the advent of LED lamps
`we now have more long-lasting and more efficient
`alternatives to older light sources.
`
`When Isamu Akasaki, Hiroshi Amano and Shuji Nakamura
`produced bright blue light beams from their semi-
`conductors in the early 1990s, they triggered a funda-
`mental transformation of lighting technology. Red
`and green diodes had been around for a long time but
`without blue light, white lamps could not be created.
`Despite considerable efforts, both in the scientific
`community and in industry, the blue LED had remai-
`ned a challenge for three decades.
`
`They succeeded where everyone else had failed. Aka-
`saki worked together with Amano at the University of
`Nagoya, while Nakamura was employed at Nichia Che-
`micals, a small company in Tokushima. Their inven-
`tions were revolutionary. Incandescent light bulbs lit the
`20th century; the 21st century will be lit by LED lamps.
`
`White LED lamps emit a bright white light, are
`long-lasting and energy-efficient. They are constantly
`improved, getting more efficient with higher lumi-
`nous flux (measured in lumen) per unit electrical input
`power (measured in watt). The most recent record
`
`Nobel Prize® is a registered trademark of the Nobel Foundation.
`
`Prize amount: SEK 8 million, to be shared equally between the Laureates.
`Further information: http://kva.se and http://nobelprize.org
`Contacts: Jessica Balksjö Nannini, Press Officer, +46 8 673 95 44, +46 70 673 96 50, jessica.balksjo@kva.se
`Olle Inganäs, member of the Nobel Committee for Physics, +46 13 28 12 31, ois@ifm.liu.se
`
`This year marks the 275th anniversary of The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. The Academy was founded in 1739 and is an independent
`organization whose overall objective is to promote the sciences and strengthen their influence in society. The Academy takes special
`responsibility for the natural sciences and mathematics, but endeavours to promote the exchange of ideas between various disciplines.
`
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