Shuji Nakamura facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Shuji Nakamura FREng
中村修二
Nakamura in 2014
Born	(1954-05-22) 22 May 1954 (age 71) Ikata, Ehime, Japan
Nationality	American
Citizenship	Japan (until 2005) United States (since 2005)
Alma mater	University of Tokushima
Known for	Blue and white LEDs
Awards	Millennium Technology Prize (2006) Harvey Prize (2009) Nobel Prize in Physics (2014) Global Energy Prize (2015) National Inventors Hall of Fame (2015) Mountbatten Medal (2017) Zayed Future Energy Prize (2018)
Scientific career
Fields	Electronics engineering
Institutions	University of California, Santa Barbara

Shuji Nakamura (born May 22, 1954) is a Japanese-American electronic engineer and inventor. He is famous for inventing the blue LED. This invention was a huge step forward in lighting technology.

Nakamura is an expert in semiconductor technology. He works as a professor of materials science at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB).

In 2014, Shuji Nakamura won the Nobel Prize in Physics. He shared this award with Isamu Akasaki and Hiroshi Amano. They were recognized for creating efficient blue light-emitting diodes. These LEDs made bright, energy-saving white light possible. In 2021, he also received the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering. This was for his work in creating LED lighting, which is now used everywhere.

Becoming an Inventor

Shuji Nakamura studied electronic engineering at the University of Tokushima in Japan. He earned his first degree in 1977 and a master's degree two years later. After finishing his studies, he started working at the Nichia Corporation. This company was also located in Tokushima.

Inventing the Blue LED

While at Nichia, Nakamura made his most important discovery. He found a way to create the first bright, commercial gallium nitride (GaN) LED. This special LED produced a brilliant blue light. When this blue light is partly changed to yellow by a special coating, it creates white LED lighting. This amazing invention started being produced in 1993.

Before Nakamura, other scientists tried to make GaN LEDs but faced many problems. One big challenge was making GaN strongly "p-type." This is a technical term for how electricity moves through the material. Nakamura built on the work of another Japanese team. They had found a way to make p-type GaN using electron beams. However, their method was not good for making many LEDs quickly.

Nakamura developed a new method using heat. This made it much easier to produce the LEDs in large numbers. He also figured out that hydrogen was causing problems in the GaN.

Challenges and Success

At the time, many people thought making a GaN LED was too hard. But the founder of Nichia, Nobuo Ogawa, believed in Nakamura. He supported and funded Nakamura's GaN project.

Later, the company's new leader told Nakamura to stop working on GaN. They thought it was costing too much time and money. But Nakamura kept working on the blue LED by himself. In 1993, he finally succeeded in making the device.

Once Nakamura created a working prototype, it was 1,000 times brighter than any blue LED before it. Nichia then quickly started making the product for sale. The company's sales grew a lot because of the blue LED.

Nakamura received a special engineering degree from the University of Tokushima in 1994. In 1999, he left Nichia Corporation and became a professor at UCSB.

Fighting for Inventors' Rights

In 2001, Nakamura sued his old employer, Nichia. He felt he had not been paid fairly for his invention. He had only received a very small bonus for his important discovery.

Nakamura asked for a large amount of money as his fair share. A court first awarded him a huge sum. Nichia appealed this decision. In 2005, they reached an agreement. Nakamura received a significant payment. Even though it was less than the court's first award, it was still the largest payment ever given by a Japanese company to an employee for an invention. This case helped change how inventors are paid in Japan.

More Inventions and Future Work

Besides blue LEDs, Nakamura also worked on green LEDs. He is responsible for creating the white LED. He also developed blue laser diodes. These are used in Blu-ray Discs and HD DVDs.

Today, Nakamura is a professor of Materials at UCSB. In 2008, he co-founded a company called Soraa. This company develops lighting technology using gallium nitride. As of 2020, Nakamura holds 208 US patents for his inventions.

In 2022, Nakamura started a new company called Blue Laser Fusion. This company is working on commercial fusion energy.

Personal Life

Shuji Nakamura is married to Yuki Nakamura.

Awards and Honors

Shuji Nakamura has received many important awards for his work:

• 2001 – Asahi Prize
• 2002 – Benjamin Franklin Medal in Physics
• 2006 – Finland's Millennium Technology Prize
• 2008 – Prince of Asturias Award for Technical and Scientific Research
• 2009 – Harvey Prize
• 2014 – Nobel Prize in Physics
• 2015 – Global Energy Prize
• 2015 – Asia Game Changer Award
• 2016 – Outstanding Achievement in Science & Technology at The Asian Awards
• 2017 – Institution of Engineering and Technology Mountbatten Medal
• 2018 – Zayed Future Energy Prize
• 2021 – Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering
• 2022 – Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement

See also

• List of Japanese Nobel laureates and nominees