No photograph is shown for this exhibition. The museum displays an image only where it can show the object honestly.
About this date
Isamu Akasaki and Hiroshi Amano grew high-quality gallium nitride crystals in the late 1980s. Shuji Nakamura made a bright blue LED in 1993.
About credit
The three shared the 2014 Nobel Prize in Physics.
Chapter II
The world before
Life before the Blue LED
Red and green LEDs existed since the 1960s–70s, but without blue there was no way to make white light.
II
The human achievement
How it came about
Researchers struggled for decades with gallium nitride. Their breakthrough allowed bright blue LEDs, which, coated with a yellow phosphor, produce white light.
III
Understanding the invention
How it works
The Blue LED, explained in two steps.
01
Step 01 of 02
Electrons meet holes
In the semiconductor, electrons fall into gaps and release light.
Electrons meet holes
White from blue
IV
The transformation
What changed for humanity
Lighting
Efficient LED bulbs spread worldwide.
Screens
Blue LEDs power displays and Blu-ray discs.
LED lighting uses a fraction of the energy of incandescent bulbs, saving electricity and lighting homes without grid power.
V
Before and after
Life before and after The Blue LED
Before
Incandescent bulbs wasting most energy as heat.
After
LEDs using a fraction.
On larger screens, drag the divider (or use the arrow keys) to give more room to the world before or after.
