Why It Was Almost Impossible to Make the Blue LED

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Directed by Emily Zhang
Written by Emily Zhang, Ricky Nathvani, and Derek Muller
Edited by Trenton Oliver
Illustrated by Jakub Misiek
Animated by Fabio Albertelli, Mike Radjabov, David Szakaly, Ivy Tello, and Alondra Vitae
Filmed by Derek Muller, Raquel Nuno, and Trenton Oliver
Additional research by Gregor Čavlović
Produced by Emily Zhang, Han Evans, Gregor Čavlović, and Derek Muller

Thumbnail by Ren Hurley
Additional video/photos supplied by Getty Images and Pond5
Music from Epidemic Sound

[randomshxt]

Bro really went from "Ignored for not having a PhD" to "Nobel Prize winner"

[paytonmacdonald]

I came here to learn why blue was so difficult to make… I didn’t know this was the story of a man who discovered a landmark piece of technology. Just the thought of him staring at a small blue light, completely understanding it was his life’s work and his masterpiece. True happiness in a blue glow.

[EthanHackney]

“in front of the house was ocean. blue always” that statement made me cry. love this story

[finleypetit]

I used to do undergrad research at UC Santa Barbara, the lab I worked in was on the same floor where Nakamora works. One time I went to go to the bathroom and saw him brushing his teeth and getting ready for the day at one of the sinks. that guy still lives and breathes his lab work :)

[BigGhoul]

It’s so dumb how it’s never just “this guy changed the world and got compensated fairly for it” there’s always some corporate bs in the way

[RavixSomni]

So he was underfunded, underappreciated and undersold, yet he almost single-handedly created one of the most important technologies in the modern world, a true legend. And I got to learn his story from an interesting, high quality source. Thanks again Derek

[simoncardie]

Which is why his nobel prize was well deserved. He changed everything.

[arubaguy]

Years ago, I was one of those "lowly technicians" with nothing but a trade school electronics certificate of completion but a high GPA. I worked in an R&D testing facility with a guy who had recently graduated with a PhD in physics. Over my years of experience, I had absorbed so much knowledge, that I found I had to "dumb down" my discussions with him so he could understand my thoughts. I found the same to be true of the degreed engineers in the company. I'm not saying I was smarter, just that the educated would do well listening to the experienced. We have more knowledge than can be gleaned from a textbook. In a few years I had advanced to become the company's Senior Electronics "Engineer" having never set foot on a college campus. My credentials were never called into question by management.

[matthewrayner]

One of the greatest examples of how we only see the end result of hard work.
My man worked 84 hour weeks for over 18 months just to hit the first clue that he was on the right path. That's a level of tenacity that I cannot help but admire.

[Pluvia]

Mr. Nakamura is a hidden giant everyone should know more about. Incredible tenacity and great video.

[kin-czvu]

they deserve more than a nobel pize. unlike so many other nobel prizes this invention really benefits humankind on a huge magnitude

[Frank]

There should be some intellectual law when someone does something that couldn't have been done without them, ensuring they get compensated appropriately. We salute you sir

[ElectroBOOM]

What a success story! I wish he was successful in compensation side in Japan, but I guess they lost him because of that. Happy to see him thrive now.

[CuriousMarc]

In the mid 1990s, I was working in a research lab where we were in competition with Nichia in the development of GaN blue LED and lasers, also using our home-grown MOCVD machines. Dr. Nakamura was always 2 (or more!) steps ahead of us. I still vividly remember when we got our hands on a prototype of his deep blue LEDs after a conference. We turned it on in the lab, with lights down, expecting a weak blue emission, as we got from our own devices. It came on so bright and so blue, it illuminated the whole room! It blew our mind, we couldn’t believe it. How had he done that? He was the blue LED magician. Nobel prize well deserved, and then some.

[sunshine]

I had the opportunity working with LED long ago and we used only the best LED's, Nichia. I remember the blue LED gave out the most beautiful. It is so pure that seams like it come from a single frequency! Dr. Nakamura was cheated by Nichia but his Nobel Price is far more that money cannot buy. I salute you!

[budsak]

When a lawsuit was mentioned the first thought that came to my mind was, the amount the company initially set out with to start the journey of the illusive blue LED, 500 million Yen.

[TheBrokenEclipse]

This story really needs a movie made about it

[DougSalad]

I'm so glad this story didn't end with "and then he died penniless and alone" because it feels like so many of these stories often do. Warms my heart to see him alive and recognized for his genius and thriving still!

[ryanside]

Videos like this remind me of the utterly incomprehensible amount of hard work and dedication that went into the modern world. I wish it wasn’t so easy to take these miraculous innovations for granted. Thank you for this video and teaching me who Shuji Nakamura is.

[justexrite]

I remember that 1994 era very well, when I was hankering for someone to come up with hi-res color flat-panel displays to replace the bulky CRT I was using for my personal desktop computer while working on my undergraduate studies in electrical engineering. You shed a lot of light on a complex technology that was in development at the time and that I knew nothing about until I saw your very instructive video. Thank you for the work that you do to make your knowledge available to all.