Why Blue Took So Long
In short: Red LEDs arrived in the 1960s, but blue took about three more decades because gallium nitride crystals and p-type layers resisted until a series of steps between 1986 and 1994 opened the way to white LED lighting.
A 2:10 short film in the series “Why Did…?”, narrated by intellect_voice_01.
Sources used in this film: Grainger College of Engineering, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, “Nick Holonyak Jr. a Bright Light Remembered”; IEEE Spectrum (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers), “Red Hot”; IEEE (IEEE Technology Navigator), “Light emitting diodes | IEEE Technology Navigator”; The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences / Nobel Prize Outreach (nobelprize.org), “Nobel Prize in Physics 2014”; Nature Reviews Physics (Springer Nature), “The physics of GaN-based light-emitting diodes - Nature Reviews Physics”; SRI International (corporate '75 Years of Innovation' series; self-interested account of its predecessor RCA Laboratories, so claims of being 'first' need independent corroboration), “75 Years of Innovation: LED, first blue-light emitting diode - SRI”; Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Shuji Nakamura | Nobel Prize-Winning Materials Scientist | Britannica”; Millennium Technology Prize (prize organisation's winner profile page), “Blue and white LEDs - Millennium Technology Prize”; U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), “By 2018, LEDs had become the second-most common lighting in U.S. commercial buildings - U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA)”; MDPI journal *Materials*, via PubMed Central (US National Library of Medicine), “A Review on Experimental Measurements for Understanding Efficiency Droop in InGaN-Based Light-Emitting Diodes”.
Sources used in this film
- Grainger College of Engineering, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign — Nick Holonyak Jr. a Bright Light Remembered · View →
- IEEE Spectrum (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) — Red Hot · View →
- IEEE (IEEE Technology Navigator) — Light emitting diodes | IEEE Technology Navigator · View →
- The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences / Nobel Prize Outreach (nobelprize.org) — Nobel Prize in Physics 2014 · View →
- Nature Reviews Physics (Springer Nature) — The physics of GaN-based light-emitting diodes - Nature Reviews Physics · View →
- SRI International (corporate '75 Years of Innovation' series; self-interested account of its predecessor RCA Laboratories, so claims of being 'first' need independent corroboration) — 75 Years of Innovation: LED, first blue-light emitting diode - SRI · View →
- Encyclopaedia Britannica — Shuji Nakamura | Nobel Prize-Winning Materials Scientist | Britannica · View →
- Millennium Technology Prize (prize organisation's winner profile page) — Blue and white LEDs - Millennium Technology Prize · View →
- U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) — By 2018, LEDs had become the second-most common lighting in U.S. commercial buildings - U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) · View →
- MDPI journal *Materials*, via PubMed Central (US National Library of Medicine) — A Review on Experimental Measurements for Understanding Efficiency Droop in InGaN-Based Light-Emitting Diodes · View →
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: Grainger College of Engineering, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign: Nick Holonyak Jr. a Bright Light Remembered
- Also: IEEE Spectrum (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers): Red Hot
- Also: IEEE (IEEE Technology Navigator): Light emitting diodes | IEEE Technology Navigator
- Also: The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences / Nobel Prize Outreach (nobelprize.org): Nobel Prize in Physics 2014
- Also: Nature Reviews Physics (Springer Nature): The physics of GaN-based light-emitting diodes - Nature Reviews Physics
- Also: SRI International (corporate '75 Years of Innovation' series; self-interested account of its predecessor RCA Laboratorie: 75 Years of Innovation: LED, first blue-light emitting diode - SRI
- Also: Encyclopaedia Britannica: Shuji Nakamura | Nobel Prize-Winning Materials Scientist | Britannica
- Also: Millennium Technology Prize (prize organisation's winner profile page): Blue and white LEDs - Millennium Technology Prize
- Also: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA): By 2018, LEDs had become the second-most common lighting in U.S. commercial buildings - U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA)
- Also: MDPI journal *Materials*, via PubMed Central (US National Library of Medicine): A Review on Experimental Measurements for Understanding Efficiency Droop in InGaN-Based Light-Emitting Diodes
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