^^^^^^^ Winners of the 2014 Nobel Prize in Physics ^^^^^^^^^^ The 2014 physics award went to Isamu Akasaki and Hiroshi Amano of Japan and Shuji Nakamura of the University of California, Santa Barbara, for “the invention of efficient blue light-emitting diodes, which has enabled bright and energy-saving white light sources.”.lue light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are everywhere.A light-emitting diode (LED) is a two-lead semiconductor light source. It is a basic pn-junction diode, which emits light when activated. When a fitting voltage is applied to the leads, electrons are able to recombine with electron holes within the device, releasing energy in the form of photons. For starters, they can be found in smartphones, computer screens, and energy-efficient bulbs. The LEDs that emit this kind of light have also been used in DVDs, as the shorter wavelength of the light allows higher data-storage densities. But that’s not all. In the future, UV-emitting LEDs could be used to create basic yet effective water-purification systems, because UV light can destroy micro-organisms. And the device has now earned three Japanese-born inventors the 2014 Nobel Prize in Physics.Notably, this is a rare example of the award being given for such a practical invention.The three scientists, working together and separately, found a way to produce blue light beams from semiconductors in the early 1990s. Others had produced red and green diodes, but without blue diodes, white light could not be produced.This is physics research that is having a direct impact on the grandest of scales, helping protect our environment, as well as turning up in our everyday electronic gadgets.
Posted on: Wed, 08 Oct 2014 10:35:17 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015