Media advisory: Expert in physics of light available to discuss Nobel Prize award to LED inventors

LAWRENCE — A University of Kansas physicist who studies the same electronic and optical properties used to develop LED light is available to discuss the 2014 Nobel Prize in Physics.

The honor was given jointly to Isamu Akasaki, Hiroshi Amano and Shuji Nakamura "for the invention of efficient blue light-emitting diodes, which has enabled bright and energy-saving white light sources.”

Hui Zhao, associate professor of physics and astronomy at KU, researches electronic and optical properties of semiconductors, the type of material used to develop LEDs.

Previously, Zhao worked on developing LED based on zinc oxide, which was a competitor of gallium nitride at that time. Zhao’s current research focus is on new single-atomic-layer semiconductors for nanoscale electronic and photonic applications. Today, he heads KU’s Ultrafast Laser Lab.

“Blue LED revolutionized the lighting industry,” Zhao said. “Any color, including white, can be made by mixing the three primary colors: red, green and blue. The blue LED is the most challenging one to make because blue light carries more energy than red and green. The blue LED based on gallium nitride invented by Akasiki, Amano, and Nakamura solved this problem.

“With blue LED, white LED lighting can achieve an energy efficiency that is 20 times higher than light bulbs and four times better than fluorescent lamps," he said. "Given that about 20 percent of electricity in the whole world is used for lighting, the economy and social impacts are huge.

The KU researcher said that this year’s Nobel Prize in Physics is the third in the past six years to go to a branch of physics known as Applied Physics, where the focus is to developed new transformative technologies based on known physical laws, instead of discovering new understandings and laws. The previous two Applied Physics winners are graphene (2010) and optical fiber/CCD camera (2009, shared). 

To schedule an interview with Zhao, contact Brendan M. Lynch at 785-864-8855 or blynch@ku.edu.