Trio win Nobel in physics for invention of blue LEDs

Isamu Akasaki and Hiroshi Amano of Japan and US scientist Shuji Nakamura won the Nobel Prize in physics on Tuesday for the invention of blue light-emitting diodes, a breakthrough that spurred the development of LED technology used to light up computer screens and modern smartphones.

The RoyalSwedishAcademy of Sciences said, “This year’s Nobel Laureates are rewarded for having invented a new energy-efficient and environment-friendly light source -- the blue light-emitting diode. Their inventions were revolutionary. Incandescent light bulbs lit the 20th century; the 21st century will be lit by LED lamps.”

The three researchers produced bright blue light beams from semiconductors in the early 1990s, triggering a fundamental transformation of lighting technology, according to the jury. Red and green diodes had been around for a long time but without blue light, white lamps could not be created.

“They succeeded where everyone else had failed,” the jury said. It added: “With the advent of LED lamps we now have more long-lasting and more efficient alternatives to older light sources.”

Because they have very low electricity needs, LED lights can be connected to cheap, local solar power -- a benefit for the more than 1.5 billion people around the world who lack access to the electricity grid.

The winners will share the prize sum of eight million Swedish kronor (Rs 6.83 crore)

Last year,the award went to Peter Higgs of Britain and Francois Englert of Belgium for the discovery of the “God particle”, the sub-atomic Higgs boson which gives mass to other elementary particles.