The inventors of the blue LED light, Nobel Prize in Physics 2014, for being "a new source of light to illuminate the world"

The inventors of blue LED lights: the Japanese Isamu Akasaki, Hiroshi Amano and Shuji Nakamura have been awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics 2014 for creating "a new light to illuminate the world, a new source of energy that is efficient and environmentally friendly", as indicated in the statement of the Swedish Academy of Sciences.

Blue LED lights, an efficient and environmentally friendly light source, has been distinguished, through its inventors, scientists and university professors Isamu Akasaki, Hiroshi Amano and Shuji Nakamura, with the Nobel Prize in Physics 2014, according to the announcement made by the permanent secretary of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, Steffan Normak, in an appearance broadcast live by the organization of the Nobel Prizes Tuesday 7 October.

This prestigious award recognizes LED (light-emitting diode) as "a new source of efficient and environmentally friendly energy", according to the statement issued, that is inscribed in "the spirit of Alfred Nobel" to create inventions that "bring a great benefit to Humanity", and THE LED "is a new light to illuminate the world".

Japanese scientists Isamu Akasaki, Hiroshi Amano and Shuji Nakamura (with U.S. citizenship) invented blue LED lights in the early nineties 90, since to date only red and green light-emitting diodes were known, and hence its distinction to achieve "a fundamental transformation of lighting technologies", as the Academy points out, to "generate white light in a new way thanks to the invention of LED blue light, which had been a challenge for three decades. With the advent of LED lamps we have more durable and efficient alternatives to the old light sources".

In this sense, the statement of this institution emphasizes that the work done by these three scientists "has triumphed where they had all failed" and emphasize that their inventions "have been revolutionary. Incandescent bulbs illuminated the twentieth century and the twenty-first century will be illuminated by LED lamps".

Energy efficiency, durability and respect for the environment have been other arguments that the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences have highlighted about the granting of this award, with special emphasis on the benefits to improve the quality of life of the population: "LED lamps hold a clear promise to improve the standard of living for more than 1.500 millions of people around the world who do not have access to electricity grids: due to the low consumption they require they can be powered by local solar plants".

The Nobel Prize in Physics is endowed with eight million crowns (882.000 Euros), to be shared equally among the winners. The delivery of the Nobel Prizes will be held, as tradition marks, the next 10 December, anniversary of the death of Alfred Nobel, in Stockholm.

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