Isamu Akasaki

Isamu Akasaki
Isamu Akasaki
赤﨑勇
	Akasaki in 2011
Born	January 30, 1929; Chiran, Kagoshima Prefecture, Empire of Japan
Died	April 1, 2021 (aged 92); Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, Japan
Alma mater	Kyoto University (BS); Nagoya University (DEng);
Known for	Blue and white LEDs
Spouse	Ryoko Akasaki
Awards	IEEE Jack A. Morton Award (1998); Rank Prize for Optoelectronics (1998); C&C Prize (1998); Gordon E. Moore Medal for Outstanding Achievement in Solid State Science and Technology (1999); Asahi Prize (2001); Kyoto Prize in Advanced Technology (2009); IEEE Edison Medal (2011); Karl Ferdinand Braun Prize (2013); Nobel Prize in Physics (2014); Charles Stark Draper Prize (2015); Asia Game Changer Award (2015); Asian Scientist 100 (2016); Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering (2021);
	Scientific career
Fields	Optoelectronics
Institutions	Nagoya University; Meijo University;
Thesis	Geの気相成長に関する研究 (1964)
Doctoral students	Hiroshi Amano

Isamu Akasaki (Japanese: 赤﨑勇, romanized: Akasaki Isamu; January 30, 1929 – April 1, 2021) was a Japanese electronics engineer specializing in the field of semiconductor technology. He is best known for co-inventing the bright gallium nitride (GaN) p–n junction blue LED in 1989 and subsequently the high-brightness GaN blue LED as well.

Akasaki was awarded the 2014 Nobel Prize in Physics, along with Hiroshi Amano and Shuji Nakamura, "for the invention of efficient blue light-emitting diodes which has enabled bright and energy-saving white light sources."