Isamu Akasaki

Isamu Akasaki (赤﨑 勇, Akasaki Isamu, January 30, 1929 – April 1, 2021) was a Japanese engineer and physicist, specializing in the field of <a href="/facts/Semiconductor/zFf3mGTE">semiconductor</a> technology and <a href="/facts/Nobel_Prize/3z1Y3oFL">Nobel Prize</a> laureate, best known for inventing the bright <a href="/facts/Gallium_nitride/lmwUt4nk">gallium nitride</a> (<a href="/facts/GaN/lmwUt4nk">GaN</a>) p-n junction blue <a href="/facts/LED/gE8x4MDb">LED</a> in 1989 and subsequently the high-brightness GaN blue LED as well.
For this and other achievements, Akasaki was awarded the <a href="/facts/Kyoto_Prize/WQcjnnwm">Kyoto Prize</a> in Advanced Technology in 2009, and the <a href="/facts/IEEE_Edison_Medal/H5eunnA9">IEEE Edison Medal</a> in 2011. He was also awarded the 2014 Nobel prize in Physics, together with <a href="/facts/Hiroshi_Amano/fCknSFKv">Hiroshi Amano</a> and <a href="/facts/Shuji_Nakamura/no9rGS9M">Shuji Nakamura</a>, "for the invention of efficient blue light-emitting diodes, which has enabled bright and energy-saving white light sources". In 2021, Akasaki, along with <a href="/facts/Shuji_Nakamura/no9rGS9M">Shuji Nakamura</a>, <a href="/facts/Nick_Holonyak/9y6JoMJ9">Nick Holonyak</a>, <a href="/facts/M._George_Craford/l2dRWk3K">M. George Craford</a> and <a href="/facts/Russell_D._Dupuis/gYgdhqn4">Russell D. Dupuis</a> were awarded the <a href="/facts/Queen_Elizabeth_Prize_for_Engineering/Hmexuntm">Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering</a> "for the creation and development of LED lighting, which forms the basis of all solid state lighting technology".

Isamu Akasaki open-in-new

Isamu Akasaki