Nobel laureate Akasaki Isamu dies at 92

Apr 03, 2021 | News On Japan

Apr 03, 2021 (NHK) - Japanese Nobel laureate Akasaki Isamu died on Thursday at the age of 92. He was awarded the 2014 physics prize with two other Japanese scientists for inventing blue-light-emitting diodes.

He graduated from Kyoto University and worked at Matsushita Research Institute. He became a professor at Nagoya University in 1981 and also served as a tenured professor at Meijo University.

In 1986, Akasaki succeeded in creating a high-quality gallium nitride crystal, essential to develop blue light. Few scientists were interested in the substance as a crystal material.

The crystal gave birth to the world's first blue-light-emitting diode. Many researchers thought it would be impossible to get such a result by the end of the 20th century.

The invention completed the three primary colors that make up white light -- red, green and blue -- allowing full-color LED displays.

Their technologies also created Blu-Ray Discs, allowing people to store a larger amount of data.

For the achievement Akasaki was awarded the Nobel prize in physics along with Amano Hiroshi, and Nakamura Shuji.

Sources close to Akasaki say he died of pneumonia at a hospital in Nagoya.

Source: ANNnewsCH

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