Isamu Akasaki

Isamu Akasaki ( Akasaki Isamu, born January

30, 1929) is a Japanese scientist, specializing in the eld
of semiconductor technology and Nobel Prize laureate,
best known for inventing the bright gallium nitride (GaN)
p-n junction blue LED in 1989 and subsequently the highbrightness GaN blue LED as well.* [1]* [2]* [3]* [4]* [5]

retically the orientation dependence of piezoelectric eld

and the existence of non-/semi-polar GaN crystals,* [18]
which have triggered todays world-wide eorts to grow
those crystals for application to more ecient light emitters.

For this and other achievements Isamu Akasaki was

awarded the Kyoto Prize in Advanced Technology in 2 Nagoya University Akasaki Insti2009* [6] and the IEEE Edison Medal in 2011.* [7] He
tute
was also awarded the 2014 Nobel prize in Physics, together with Hiroshi Amano and Shuji Nakamura,* [8]
for the invention of ecient blue light-emitting diodes, Professor Akasakis patents were produced from these
which has enabled bright and energy-saving white light inventions, and the patents have been rewarded as royalties. Nagoya University Akasaki Institute* [19] opened
sources.
on October 20, 2006. The cost of construction of the
institute was covered with the patent royalty income to
the university, which was also used for a wide range of
1 Career
activities in Nagoya University. The institute consists of
an LED gallery to display the history of blue LED reBorn in Kagoshima Prefecture, Akasaki graduated from search/developments and applications, an oce for reKyoto University in 1952, and obtained a Dr.Eng. de- search collaboration, laboratories for innovative research,
gree in Electronics from Nagoya University in 1964. He and Professor Akasaki's oce on the top sixth oor. The
started working on GaN-based blue LEDs in the late institute is situated in the center of the collaboration re1960s. Step by step, he improved the quality of GaN search zone in Nagoya University Higashiyama campus.
crystals and device structures* [9] at Matsushita Research
Institute Tokyo, Inc.(MRIT), where he decided to adopt
metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy (MOVPE) as the pre- 3 Professional record
ferred growth method for GaN.
1952-1959 Research Scientist at Kobe Kogyo Corporation (now, Fujitsu Ltd.)

In 1981 he started afresh the growth of GaN by MOVPE

at Nagoya University, and in 1985 he and his group succeeded in growing high-quality GaN on sapphire substrate by pioneering the low-temperature (LT) buer
layer technology.* [10]* [11]

1959-1964 Research Associate, Assistant Professor

and Associate Professor, Department of Electronics,
Nagoya University

This high-quality GaN enabled them to discover p-type

GaN by doping with magnesium (Mg) and subsequent activation by electron irradiation (1989), to produce the rst
GaN p-n junction blue/UV LED (1989), and to achieve
conductivity control of n-type GaN (1990)* [12] and related alloys (1991)* [13] by doping with silicon (Si), enabling the use of hetero structures and multiple quantum
wells in the design and structure of more ecient p-n
junction light emitting structures.

1964-1974 Head of Basic Research Laboratory 4,

Matsushita Research Institute Tokyo, Inc.
1974-1981 General Manager of Semiconductor Department (in the same institute as above)
1981-1992 Professor in the Department of Electronics at Nagoya University

They achieved stimulated emission from the GaN rstly

at room temperature in 1990,* [14] and developed in
1995 the stimulated emission at 388 nm with pulsed
current injection from high-quality AlGaN/GaN/GaInN
quantum well device.* [15] They veried quantum size
eect (1991)* [16] and quantum conned Stark eect
(1997)* [17] in nitride system, and in 2000 showed theo-

1987-1990 Project Leader of Research and

Development of GaN-based Blue LightEmitting
Diodesponsored by Japan Science and Technology Agency(JST)
1992present Professor Emeritus of Nagoya University, Professor of Meijo University
1

4
1993-1999 Project Leader ofResearch and Development of GaN-based Short-Wavelength Semiconductor Laser Diodesponsored by JST
1995-1996 Visiting Professor of Research Center
for Interface Quantum Electronics at Hokkaido University
1996-2001 Project Leader of the Japan Society for
the Promotion of Science(JSPS)s Research for
the Futureprogram
1996-2004 Project Leader ofHigh-Tech Research
Center for Nitride Semiconductorsat Meijo University, sponsored by MEXT
2001Present Research Fellow at Akasaki Research
Center of Nagoya University
2003-2006 Chairman ofR&D Strategic Committee on the Wireless Devices Based on Nitride Semiconductorssponsored by METI
2004Present Director of Research Center for Nitride Semiconductors at Meijo University

Honors and awards

4.1

Scientic and academic

HONORS AND AWARDS

1999 Gordon E. Moore Award, the Electrochemical

Society* [26]
1999 Honoris Causa Doctorate, the University of
Montpellier II
1999 Toray Science and Technology Prize, Toray
Science Foundation* [27]
2001 Asahi Prize, the Asahi Shinbun Cultural Foundation* [28]
2001 Honoris Causa Doctorate, Linkoping University
2002 Outstanding Achievement Award, the Japan
Society of Applied Physics
2002 Fujihara Prize, the Fujihara Foundation of
Science* [29]
2002 Takeda Award, the Takeda Foundation* [30]
2003 President's Award, the Science Council of
Japan (SCJ)* [31]
2003 Solid State Devices & Materials (SSDM)
Award
2004 Tokai TV Culture Prize
2004 University Professor, Nagoya University

1989 Japanese Association for Crystal Growth

(JACG) Award

2006 John Bardeen Award, the Minerals, Metals &

Materials Society* [32]

1991 Chu-Nichi Culture Prize* [20]

2006 Outstanding Achievement Award,

Japanese Association for Crystal Growth

1994 Technological Contribution Award, Japanese

Association for Crystal Growth in commemoration
of its 20th anniversary
1995 Heinrich Welker Gold Medal, the International Symposium on Compound Semiconductors
1996 Engineering Achievement Award, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers / Lasers
Electro-Optics Society
1998 Inoue Harushige Award, Japan Science and
Technology Agency

the

2007 Honorable Lifetime Achievement Award, the

162nd Research Committee on Wide Bandgap
Semiconductor Photonic and Electronic Devices,
Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS)
2008 Foreign Associate, the US National Academy
of Engineering* [33]
2009 Kyoto Prize Advanced Technology, the Inamori Foundation* [34]
2010 Lifetime Professor, Meijo University

1998 C&C Prize, the Nippon Electric Company

Corporation* [21]

2011 Edison Medal, the Institute of Electrical and

Electronics Engineers* [7]

1998 Laudise Prize, the International Organization

for Crystal Growth* [22]

2011 Special Award for Intellectual Property Activities, the Japan Science and Technology Agency

1998 Jack A. Morton Award, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers* [23]

2011 Minami-Nippon Culture Prize-Honorable

Prize

1998 Rank Prize, the Rank Prize Foundation* [24]

2014 Nobel Prize in Physics together with prof.

Hiroshi Amano and prof. Shuji Nakamura* [8]

1999 Fellow, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers* [25]

2015 Charles Stark Draper Prize

4.2

National

1997 Medal with Purple Ribbon, the Japanese Government* [35]

2002 Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Neck
Ribbon, the Japanese Government* [36]
2004 Person of Cultural Merit, the Japanese Government
2011 Order of Culture,
peror* [37]* [38]* [39]

the Japanese Em-

References

[13] Hiroshi Murakami, Tsunemori Asahi, Hiroshi Amano,

Kazumasa Hiramatsu, Nobuhiko Sawaki and Isamu
Akasaki: Growth of Si-doped AlxGa 1-xN on (0001)
sapphire substrate by metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy
, J. Crystal Growth, Vol.115 (1991), pp. 648-651.
[14] H. Amano, T. Asahi and I. Akasaki: Stimulated Emission Near Ultraviolet at Room Temperature from a GaN
Film Grown on Sapphire by MOVPE Using an AlN Buer
LayerJpn. J. Appl. Phys. Vol. 29, pp. L205-L206,
1990.
[15] Isamu Akasaki, Hiroshi Amano, Shigetoshi Sota, Hiromitsu Sakai, Toshiyuki Tanaka and Masayoshi Koike:
Stimulated Emission by Current Injection from an AlGaN/GaN/GaInN Quantum Well DeviceJpn. J. Appl.
Phys., Vol. 34 (1995) pp. L1517-1519, Part 2, No.11B,
15 November 1995 (accepted for pub. October 16, 1995).

[1] http://jjap.jsap.jp/link?JJAP/45/9001/
[2] http://jjap.jsap.jp/link?JJAP/47/3781/
[3] Hiroshi Amano, Masahiro Kito, Kazumasa Hiramatsu
and Isamu Akasaki: P-Type Conduction in Mg-doped
GaN Treated with Low-Energy Electron Beam Irradiation
(LEEBI)", Jpn. J. Appl. Phys. Vol. 28, No.12, December
1989, pp. L2112-L2114, (accepted for pub. Nov. 1989).
[4] I. Akasaki, H. Amano, M. Kito and K. Hiramatsu :Photoluminescence of Mg doped p-type GaN and electroluminescence of GaN p-n junction LEDJ. Cryst. Growth,
Vol. 48&49 pp.666-670, 1991

[16] K. Itoh, T. Kawamoto, H. Amano, K. Hiramatsu and I.

Akasaki: Metalorganic Vapor Phase Epitaxial Growth
and Properties of GaN/Al0.1Ga0.9N Layered Structures
Jpn. J. Appl. Phys. Vol. 30, pp.1924-1927, 1991.
[17] T. Takeuchi, S. Sota, M. Katsuragawa, M. Komori,
H. Takeuchi, H. Amano and I. Akasaki: QuantumConned Stark Eect due to Piezoelectric Fields in
GaInN Strained Quantum WellsJpn. J. Appl. Phys.,
Vol.36, Pt. 2, No. 4A, pp. L382-385, 1997.

[5] Isamu Akasaki, Hiroshi Amano, Kenji Itoh, Norikatsu

Koide and Katsuhide Manabe:GaN-based UV/blue light
emitting devices, Inst. Phys. Conf. Ser. No.129, pp.
851-856, 1992

[18] Tetsuya Takeuchi, Hiroshi Amano and Isamu Akasaki:

Theoretical Study of Orientation Dependence of Piezoelectric Eects in Wurtzite Strained GaInN/GaN Heterostructures and Quantum Wells, Jpn. J. Appl. Phys.
Vol. 39, pp. 413-416, Part1, No.2A, Feb.2000. (accepted for pub., November 1, 1999).

[6] http://www.inamori-f.or.jp/laureates/k25_a_isamu/ctn_
e.html

[19] http://www.nagoya-u.ac.jp/en/about-nu/pdf/
profile2008_en.pdf

[7] IEEE Jack S. Kilby Signal Processing Medal Recipients [20] http://www.chunichi.co.jp/info/award/culture/index.
html
(PDF). IEEE. Retrieved April 15, 2012.
[8] The 2014 Nobel Prize in Physics - Press Release. Nobelprize.org. Nobel Media AB 2014. Retrieved October
7, 2014.

[21] http://www.nec.co.jp/press/en/9811/0401.html

[9] Y. Ohki, Y. Toyoda, H. Kobayasi and I. Akasaki: Fabrication and properties of a practical blue-emitting GaN
m-i-s diode. Inst. Phys. Conf. Ser. No. 63, pp. 479-484
(Proc. of the 9th Intl. Symposium on Gallium Arsenide
and Related Compounds, 1981).

[23] http://www.ieee.org/documents/morton_rl.pdf

[10] H. Amano, N. Sawaki I. Akasaki and Y. Toyoda: Metalorganic vapor phase epitaxial growth of a high quality
GaN lm using an AlN buer layer,
[11] Isamu Akasaki, Hiroshi Amano, Yasuo Koide, Kazumasa
Hiramatsu and Nobuhiko Sawaki:Eects of AlN buer
layer on crystallographic structure and on electrical and
optical properties of GaN and Ga1-xAl xN (0<x < = 0,4)
lms grown on sapphire substrate by MOVPE, J. Crystal
Growth, Vol.98 (1989), pp.209-219
[12] H. Amano and I. Akasaki:Fabrication and Properties of
GaN p-n Junction LED, Mater. Res. Soc. Extended Abstract (EA-21), pp.165-168, 1990, (Fall Meeting 1989)

[22] http://www.iocg.org/prizes/frank_laudise_prize.html

[24] http://www.rankprize.org/opto-electronics1.htm
[25] http://www.ieee.org/membership_services/membership/
fellows/chronology/fellows_1999.html
[26] http://www.electrochem.org/awards/ecs/recipients/ssst_
recipients.htm
[27] http://www.toray.com/tsf/kagaku/kag_004.html
[28] http://www.asahi.com/shimbun/award/asahi/english.
html#winners2009
[29] http://www.nipponpapergroup.com/e/csr/fujiwara.html
[30] http://www.takeda-foundation.jp/en/award/takeda/
2002/recipient/01.html
[31] http://www.interacademies.net/About.aspx

[32] http://www.tms.org/Society/Honors/2006/Bardeen2006.
html
[33] http://www.nae.edu/MembersSection/Directory20412/
31054.aspx
[34] http://www.inamori-f.or.jp/laureates/k25_a_isamu/prf_
e.html
[35] http://www8.cao.go.jp/shokun/en/types-of-medals.html
[36] http://www8.cao.go.jp/shokun/en/
orders-of-the-rising-sun.html
[37] http://www8.cao.go.jp/shokun/en/order-of-culture.html
[38] http://newsonjapan.com/html/newsdesk/article/92718.
php
[39] http://homepage1.nifty.com/kitabatake/biunka.html

Additional reading
http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/
laureates/2014/
http://www.compoundsemiconductor.net/
csc/adminpanel/uploads/magazine_images/
CompoundSemiconductor_Issue1.pdf (pp. 1719)
http://www.nature.com/naturejobs/
2009/091008/full/nj0264.html#
excellence-in-education-and-research
http://www.nature.com/naturejobs/
2009/091008/full/nj0264.html#
industrialacademic-collaborations-going-global
Insights & Enterprise in PHOTONICS SPECTRA,54 November,2004
Materials Research Society Symposium Proceedings, Volume 639(2000) xxiii xxv,

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