Biography:Shuji Nakamura

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Shuji Nakamura
中村修二
Nakamura in 2014
Born (1954-05-22) May 22, 1954 (age 71)
Ikata, Ehime Prefecture, Japan
Citizenship
  • Japan (until 2005)
  • United States (since 2005)[1][2]
Alma materUniversity of Tokushima (BEng, MEng, DEng)
Known forBlue and white LEDs
Spouse(s)Yuki Nakamura
Awards
  • IEEE Jack A. Morton Award (1998)
  • Rank Prize for Optoelectronics (1998)
  • Asahi Prize (2000)
  • Nick Holonyak, Jr. Award (2001)
  • Karl Ferdinand Braun Prize (2004)
  • Millennium Technology Prize (2006)
  • Prince of Asturias Award for Technical and Scientific Research (2008)
  • Harvey Prize (2009)
  • Nobel Prize in Physics (2014)
  • Charles Stark Draper Prize (2015)
  • Global Energy Prize (2015)
  • Asia Game Changer Award (2015)
  • Asian Scientist 100 (2016)
  • Mountbatten Medal (2017)
  • Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering (2021)
Scientific career
FieldsOptoelectronics
Institutions

Shuji Nakamura (Japanese: 中村 修二, romanized: Nakamura Shūji; born May 22, 1954) is a Japanese–American electronics engineer and co-inventor of the blue LED, a major breakthrough in lighting technology.[3] For this achievement, Nakamura, together with Isamu Akasaki and Hiroshi Amano, received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2014.[4]

Nakamura specializes in the field of semiconductor technology. He is Professor of Materials and of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) since 1999.[5]

Career and research

Nakamura graduated from the University of Tokushima in 1977 with a B.Eng. in Electronic Engineering, and obtained an M.Eng. in the same subject in 1979, after which he joined the Nichia Corporation, also based in Tokushima. It was while working for Nichia that Nakamura invented the method for producing the first commercial high brightness gallium nitride (GaN) LED whose brilliant blue light, when partially converted to yellow by a phosphor coating, is the key to white LED lighting, which went into production in 1993.

Previously, J. I. Pankove and co-workers at RCA put in considerable effort but did not make a marketable GaN LED in the 1960s. The principal problem was the difficulty of making strongly p-type GaN.[6] Nakamura drew on the work of another Japanese group led by Professor Isamu Akasaki, who published their method to make strongly p-type GaN by electron-beam irradiation of magnesium-doped GaN; however, this method was not suitable for mass production. Nakamura developed a thermal annealing method much more suitable for mass production.[7] In addition, he and his co-workers worked out the physics and pointed out the culprit was hydrogen, which passivated acceptors in GaN.[8]

At the time, many considered creating a GaN LED too difficult to produce; therefore, Nakamura was fortunate that the founder of Nichia, Nobuo Ogawa [ja; ja; 小川信雄 (実業家)] (1912–2002), was willing to support and fund his GaN project.[9][10] However, the senior Ogawa ceded the presidency to his son-in-law Eiji Ogawa (in 1989). The company under Eiji's direction ordered him to suspend work on GaN, claiming it was consuming too much time and money.[11][12] Nakamura continued to develop the blue LED on his own and in 1993 succeeded in making the device.[13][12]

Despite these circumstances, once Nakamura succeeded in creating a commercially viable prototype, 3 orders of magnitude (1000 times) brighter than previously successful blue LEDs, Nichia pursued developing the marketable product.[9][14] The company's gross receipt surged from just over ¥20 billion (≈US$200 million) in 1993 to ¥80 billion (≈US$800 million) by 2001, 60 percent of which was accounted for by sales of blue LED products.[12] The company's workforce doubled between 1994 and 1999 from 640 to 1300 employees.[15]

In 1994, Nakamura was conferred a D.Eng. degree by the University of Tokushima, earned through a doctoral thesis submitted by publication.[16]

Nakamura left Nichia Corporation in 1999 to join the faculty at the University of California, Santa Barbara at the personal invitation of the university's chancellor, Henry T. Yang. Yang flew three times from California to Japan to recruit Nakamura, with promises to build new research facilities and having a Japanese-speaking research staff team already assembled for him.[17][18]

In 2001, Nakamura sued his former employer Nichia over his bonus for the discovery as a part of a series of lawsuits between Nichia and Nakamura with Nichia's US competitor Cree Inc.; they agreed in 2000 to jointly sue Nichia at the expense of Cree and Nakamura received stock options from Cree. Nakamura claimed that he received only Template:JP¥ (≈US$180) for his discovery of "404 patent," though Nichia's president Eiji Ogawa's side of the story was that he was shocked beyond belief that the court would award Nakamura ¥20 billion, and downplaying the significance of the "404 patent," opined that the company had adequately compensated him for the innovation through promotions and bonuses amounting to ¥62 million over 11 years and annual salary which was raised to ¥20 million by the time Nakamura quit Nichia.[19]

Nakamura sued for ¥2 billion (<US$20 million) as his fair share for the invention, and the district court awarded him ten times the amount, ¥20 billion (<US$200 million). However, Nichia appealed the award and the parties settled in 2005 for ¥840 million (≈US$8.1 million, less than 5% of the award amount), which was still the largest payment ever paid by a Japanese company to an employee for an invention,[20][21] an amount only enough to cover legal expenses incurred by Nakamura.[22] In line with the lawsuit, Nakamura has repeatedly criticized Japanese companies for not giving their researchers the salaries and recognition they deserve.[23]

Nakamura has also worked on green LEDs and is responsible for creating the white LED and blue laser diodes used in Blu-ray Discs and HD DVDs.[24]

Nakamura is a professor of Materials at the UCSB.[25] In 2008, Nakamura, along with fellow UCSB professors Dr. Steven P. DenBaars and Dr. James Speck, founded Soraa, a developer of solid-state lighting technology built on pure gallium nitride substrates.[26] Nakamura holds 208 US utility patents as of 5 May 2020.[27]

In November 2022, Nakamura co-founded Blue Laser Fusion, a commercial fusion company, with Hiroaki Ohta, a former president of Tokyo-based drone maker ACSL.[28] In July 2023, Blue Laser Fusion raised $25 million from venture capital firm JAFCO Group and the Mirai Creation Fund, which is backed by Toyota Motor and other investors and managed by the SPARX Group.[28]

Personal life

Nakamura is married to Yuki Nakamura.[29]

Recognition

Awards

Year Organization Award Citation Ref.
1998 United States IEEE IEEE Jack A. Morton Award[lower-alpha 1] "For contributions in the field of group-III nitride materials and devices." [30]
1998 United Kingdom Rank Foundation Rank Prize for Optoelectronics[lower-alpha 2] "For contributions to the invention of nitride based blue and green semiconductor diode lasers." [31]
2000 Japan The Asahi Shimbun Asahi Prize[lower-alpha 3] "For their research and development of a blue light emitting device." [32]
2001 United States Optical Society of America Nick Holonyak, Jr. Award "For original demonstration and commercialization of GaN-based semiconductor lasers and LEDs." [33]
2004 United States Society for Information Display Karl Ferdinand Braun Prize [34]
2006 United States Technology Academy Finland Millennium Technology Prize [35]
2008 Spain Prince of Asturias Foundation Prince of Asturias Award for Technical and Scientific Research[lower-alpha 4] [36]
2009 Israel Technion – Israel Institute of Technology Harvey Prize "In recognition of his seminal contribution to nitride containing white light LEDs which revolutionize energy efficient lighting system." [37]
2014 Sweden Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences Nobel Prize in Physics[lower-alpha 5] "For the invention of efficient blue light-emitting diodes which has enabled bright and energy-saving white light sources." [4]
2015 United States National Academy of Engineering Charles Stark Draper Prize[lower-alpha 6] "For the invention, development, and commercialization of materials and processes for light-emitting diodes (LEDs)." [38]
2015 Russia Global Energy Association Global Energy Prize[lower-alpha 7] "For the invention, commercialization and development of energy-efficient white LED lighting technology." [39]
2015 United States Asia Society Asia Game Changer Award[lower-alpha 8] "For lighting our world in a groundbreaking and sustainable way." [40]
2016 Singapore Asian Scientist Asian Scientist 100 [41]
2017 United Kingdom IET Mountbatten Medal [42]
2021 United Kingdom Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering Foundation Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering[lower-alpha 9] "For the creation and development of LED lighting, which forms the basis of all solid state lighting technology." [43]

Memberships

Year Organization Type Ref.
2003 United States National Academy of Engineering Member [44]
2019 United Kingdom Royal Academy of Engineering International Fellow [45]

Honorary degrees

Year University Degree Ref.
2008 Hong Kong HKUST Doctor of Engineering [46]
2017 Poland University of Warsaw Doctor honoris causa [47]
2018 United Kingdom Queen's University Belfast Doctor of Science [48]
2018 United States University of Massachusetts Lowell Doctor of Humane Letters [49]
2020 Macau University of Macau Doctor of Science [50]
2025 Canada McGill University Doctor of Science [51]

Orders

Year Head of state Order Ref.
2014 Japan Akihito Order of Culture [52]

See also

  • List of Japanese Nobel laureates and nominees

Notes

  1. ↑ Awarded jointly with Isamu Akasaki.
  2. ↑ Awarded jointly with Isamu Akasaki and Hiroshi Amano.
  3. ↑ Awarded jointly with Isamu Akasaki.
  4. ↑ Awarded jointly with Sumio Iijima, Robert Langer, Tobin Marks, and George M. Whitesides.
  5. ↑ Awarded jointly with Isamu Akasaki and Hiroshi Amano.
  6. ↑ Awarded jointly with Isamu Akasaki, M. George Craford, Russell Dupuis, and Nick Holonyak.
  7. ↑ Awarded jointly with B. Jayant Baliga.
  8. ↑ Awarded jointly with Isamu Akasaki and Hiroshi Amano.
  9. ↑ Awarded jointly with Isamu Akasaki, M. George Craford, Russell Dupuis, and Nick Holonyak.

References

Citations
  1. ↑ "Error: no |title= specified when using {{Cite web}}" (in ja). Asahi Shimbun Digital. 18 October 2014. http://www.asahi.com/articles/ASGBK4RNKGBKULFA00X.html. 
  2. ↑ "Nōberu shō no Nakamura Shūji-shi, Amerika no shiminken wo totta riyū wo kataru" (in ja). withnews. 18 October 2014. https://withnews.jp/article/f0141018000qq000000000000000G0010401qq000010997A#. "２００５、６年ごろに（米国市民権を）取ったんですよ [acquired (U.S. citizenship) in 2005 or 2006]" 
  3. ↑ "Nobel laureate fought the odds to make history". Pacific Coast Business Times. 10 October 2014. http://www.pacbiztimes.com/2014/10/10/laureate-fought-the-odds-to-make-history. 
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Nobel Prize in Physics 2014". Nobel Foundation. https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/2014/summary/. 
  5. ↑ "Shuji Nakamura". University of California. http://www.engr.ucsb.edu/faculty/profile/82. 
  6. ↑ Johnstone (2007), pp. 90–93.
  7. ↑ Johnstone (2007), p. 114.
  8. ↑ Johnstone (2007), pp. 114, 116.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Normile, Dennis (21 March 1997). "Staying Off Beaten Track Puts LED Researcher a Step Ahead". Science. New Series 275 (5307): 1734–1735. doi:10.1126/science.275.5307.1734. 
  10. ↑ Johnstone (2007), p. 68.
  11. ↑ Johnstone (2007), pp. 103–104.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 "Court dismisses inventor's patent claim but will consider reward". The Japan Times. September 20, 2002. http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2002/09/20/national/court-dismisses-inventors-patent-claim-but-will-consider-reward/. 
  13. ↑ Johnstone (2007), pp. 112–120.
  14. ↑ Johnstone (2007), pp. 120–121.
  15. ↑ Johnstone (2007), p. 122.
  16. ↑ Shuji Nakamura biographical - website of the [[Nobel Prize ]]
  17. ↑ "美国加州大学圣巴巴拉分校校长杨祖佑：寻找天才为大师建大楼". https://www.cas.cn/xw/kjsm/gjdt/200906/t20090608_635081.shtml. 
  18. ↑ "美国加州大学圣塔巴巴拉分校校长杨祖佑："一流教授最看重和谐科研环境" - 中华人民共和国教育部". http://www.moe.gov.cn/jyb_xwfb/xw_zt/moe_357/s3579/moe_1217/moe_1218/tnull_16562.html. 
  19. ↑ "Nichia kagaku kōgyō no Ogawa Eiji shi: soshō sōdō no shinjitsu wo ima koso akiraka ni suru" (in ja). Nikkei Tech-on. April 2004. http://techon.nikkeibp.co.jp/NEWS/nakamura/mono200404_2.html. 
  20. ↑ Zaun, Todd (January 12, 2005). "Japanese Company to Pay Ex-Employee $8.1 Million for Invention". The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/12/business/worldbusiness/12light.html. 
  21. ↑ Johnstone (2007), pp. 233–237.
  22. ↑ Robert Matthews. (3 April 2007). "Book Review: The man who had the world's brightest idea". Financial Times. https://www.ft.com/content/d4f26220-e1ec-11db-af9e-000b5df10621. 
  23. ↑ "Japanese Inventor Sues Company" (in en). https://www.science.org/content/article/japanese-inventor-sues-company#:~:text=Since%20leaving%20Nichia%20for%20the,reasonable%20compensation,%22%20he%20says.. 
  24. ↑ Richard Harris (June 15, 2006). "Work in Colored Lights Nets Millennium Prize". All Things Considered. https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5488821. 
  25. ↑ "Shuji Nakamura". Solid State Lighting & Energy Center. http://sslec.ucsb.edu/nakamura/index.html. 
  26. ↑ "About". Soraa Inc.. https://www.soraa.com/about. 
  27. ↑ "Patents of Shuji Nakamura". http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-adv.htm&r=0&p=1&f=S&l=50&d=PTXT&Query=apt%2F1+and+in%2FNakamura-Shuji+and+an%2F%28%22university+of+california%22+or+nichia+or+cree+or+soraa%29. 
  28. ↑ 28.0 28.1 "Nuclear fusion race draws in Nobel-winning LED pioneer.". July 23, 2023. https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Energy/Nuclear-fusion-race-draws-in-Nobel-winning-LED-pioneer. 
  29. ↑ "Japanese Nobel physics laureate Shuji Nakamura and his spouse Yuki..." (in en-us). 2014-12-11. https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/japanese-nobel-physics-laureate-shuji-nakamura-and-his-news-photo/460318898. 
  30. ↑ "IEEE Andrew S. Grove Award Recipients". IEEE. https://www.ieee.org/content/dam/ieee-org/ieee/web/org/about/awards/recipients/grove_rl.pdf. 
  31. ↑ "Optoelectronics winners". https://www.rankprize.org/prize/optoelectronics/winners/. 
  32. ↑ "The Asahi Prize (English version)". The Asahi Shimbun. https://www.asahi.com/corporate/award/asahi/12737983. 
  33. ↑ "Nick Holonyak, Jr. Award". https://www.optica.org/get_involved/awards_and_honors/awards/award_descriptions/nickholonyak/. 
  34. ↑ "Karl Ferdinand Braun Award". Society for Information Display. https://www.sid.org/Awards/Individual-Honors-and-Awards/KARL-FERDINAND-BRAUN-AWARD. 
  35. ↑ "Blue and white LEDs". https://millenniumprize.org/winners/blue-and-white-leds/. 
  36. ↑ "Prince of Asturias Award for Technical & Scientific Research 2008". https://www.fpa.es/en/princess-of-asturias-awards/laureates/sumio-iijima-shuji-nakamura-robert-langer-george-m-whitesides-and-tobin-marks/?texto=trayectoria. 
  37. ↑ "Prize Winners". https://harveypz.net.technion.ac.il/harvey-prize-laureates/. 
  38. ↑ Ainsworth, Susan J. (2015-01-07). "Pioneers Of Light-Emitting Diodes Honored With 2015 Charles Stark Draper Prize". Chemical & Engineering News. https://cen.acs.org/articles/93/web/2015/01/Pioneers-Light-Emitting-Diodes-Honored.html. Retrieved 2022-09-19. 
  39. ↑ "Laureates". https://globalenergyprize.org/en/laureaty-3/. 
  40. ↑ "Chanda Kochhar among three Indians get Asia Game Changer awards". The Economic Times. 2015-09-16. https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/company/corporate-trends/chanda-kochhar-among-three-indians-get-asia-game-changer-awards/articleshow/48991265.cms. 
  41. ↑ "The Asian Scientist 100". Asian Scientist. https://www.asianscientist.com/as100/#2016. Retrieved 2025-03-13. 
  42. ↑ "The Mountbatten Medallists". https://www.theiet.org/membership/library-and-archives/the-iet-archives/iet-history/awards-and-prizes-index/the-mountbatten-medallists. 
  43. ↑ "LED Lighting". https://qeprize.org/winners/led-lighting. 
  44. ↑ "Dr. Shuji Nakamura". https://www.nae.edu/30790/Dr-Shuji-Nakamura. 
  45. ↑ "Academy welcomes leading UK and international engineers as new Fellows". https://www.raeng.org.uk/news/academy-welcomes-leading-uk-and-international-engineers-as-new-fellows/. 
  46. ↑ "Prof. Shuji Nakamura". https://ias.hkust.edu.hk/people/ias-members/alumni/prof-shuji-nakamura. 
  47. ↑ "Honorary degree for Prof. Shuji Nakamura". https://en.uw.edu.pl/honorary-degree-for-prof-shuji-nakamura/. 
  48. ↑ "Leading Scientists and Noble Prize-winning LED Inventor honoured at Queen’s University". https://www.qub.ac.uk/News/Allnews/2018/LeadingScientistsandNoblePrize-winningLEDInventorhonouredatQueensUniversity.html. 
  49. ↑ "UMass Lowell Presents Honorary Degree to Nobel Laureate". https://www.uml.edu/news/press-releases/2018/tripathydegree041118.aspx#:~:text=Acclaimed%20Scientist%2C%20Inventor%20is%20First%20of%20Four%20Recipients%20for%202018&text=LOWELL%2C%20Mass.,Doctor%20of%20Humane%20Letters%20degree.. 
  50. ↑ "Announcement of the Conferment of Honorary Degrees". https://um2.umac.mo/apps/com/bulletin.nsf/0/d174553fb52d869d482585ca0016744a?OpenDocument&TableRow=4.1. 
  51. ↑ "McGill announces its Spring 2025 Honorary Degree recipients". 2025-05-07. https://reporter.mcgill.ca/mcgill-announces-its-spring-2025-honorary-degree-recipients/. 
  52. ↑ "UCSB Nobel Prize Winner Nakamura Gets High Japanese Honor". Santa Barbara Independent. 2014-10-25. https://www.independent.com/2014/10/25/ucsb-nobel-prize-winner-nakamura-gets-high-japanese-honor/. 
Bibliography

Further reading

  • Shuji Nakamura, Gerhard Fasol, Stephen J. Pearton, The Blue Laser Diode : The Complete Story, Springer; 2nd edition, October 2, 2000, (ISBN 3-540-66505-6)
Preceded by
Tim Berners-Lee 		Millennium Technology Prize winner
2006 (for blue and white LEDs) 		Succeeded by
Robert S. Langer



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