Physics Nobel for 3 Japanese

Their invention blue LED is energy-efficient and environment-friendly

Stockholm: 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 new energy efficient and environment-friendly light source.

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said the invention is just 20 years old, “but it has already contributed to create white light in an entirely new manner to the benefit of us all".

Prof Akasaki, 85, is a professor at Meijo University and distinguished professor at Nagoya University. Prof. Amano, 54, is also a professor at Nagoya University, while the 60-year-old Prof. Nakamura is a professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

The laureates triggered a transformation of lighting technology when they produced bright blue light from semiconductors in the 1990s, something scientists had struggled with for decades, the Nobel committee said.

Using the blue light, LED lamps emitting white light could be created in a new way. “As about one fourth of world electricity consumption is used for lighting purposes, the LEDs contribute to saving the Earth’s resources,” the committee said.

Prof Nakamura, who spoke to reporters in Stockholm over a crackling telephone line after being woken up by the phone call from the prize jury, said it was an amazing, and unbelievable feeling. The Nobel award in chemistry will be announced on Wednesday, followed by the literature award on Thursday and the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday. The economics prize will be announced next Monday, completing the 2014 Nobel Prize announcements. Last year’s physics award went to Britain’s Peter Higgs and Belgian colleague Francois Englert for helping to explain how matter formed after the Big Bang.