Soraa founder wins Nobel Prize for LED innovations

Dr. Shuji Nakamura, founder of LED technology company Soraa, has been awarded the 2014 Nobel Prize in Physics for his blue light emitting diode invention.

Nakamura, together with professors Dr. Steven DenBaars and Dr. James Speck, joined forces in 2007 to figure out how to bring GaN LED technology to the market, riding on the assumption that GaN LEDs would produce more light and be more cost-effective in that they wouldn't rely on foreign substrates like sapphire or silicon carbide.

The Nobel committee said Nakamura's invention “has enabled bright and energy-saving white light sources," emitting the most light of any type of LED and handling more electric current.

“I am very honored to receive the Nobel Prize from The Royal Swedish Academy of Science for my invention of the blue LED,” said Nakamura. “It is very satisfying to see that my dream of LED lighting has become a reality. I hope that energy-efficient LED light bulbs will help reduce energy use and lower the cost of lighting worldwide, and that is why we founded Soraa.”