Shuji Nakamura
Shuji Nakamura (中村 修二, Nakamura Shūji, born May 22, 1954) is a Japanese-American electronic engineer and inventor who created the blue LED, a major breakthrough in lighting technology. Nakamura specializes in the field of semiconductor technology, and he is a professor of materials science at the College of Engineering of the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB).
Shuji Nakamura | |
|---|---|
| 中村修二 | |
Shuji Nakamura in 2015, with a blue LED | |
| Born | 22 May 1954 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 |
Together with Isamu Akasaki and Hiroshi Amano, Nakamura received the 2014 Nobel Prize for Physics "for the invention of efficient blue light-emitting diodes, which has enabled bright and energy-saving white light sources". In 2015, his input into the commercialization and development of energy-efficient white LED lighting technology was recognized by the Global Energy Prize. In 2021, Nakamura, along with Akasaki, Nick Holonyak, M. George Craford, and Russell D. Dupuis, were awarded the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering "for the creation and development of LED lighting, which forms the basis of all solid-state lighting technology".