Akasaki received the Nobel Prize in Physics together with Hiroshi Amano and Shuji Nakamura in 2014. The three were rewarded for inventing a new, energy-efficient and environmentally friendly light source, commonly known as led.
The invention has meant that mankind has been given a more sustainable and efficient alternative to older light sources.
Created white light
Or as the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences wrote when the award was announced: Blue LEDs spread new light around the world.
Isamu Akasaki worked at Nagoya University with Hirshi Amano.
In the early 1990s, they managed to get strong blue rays from semiconductors.
Red and green diodes had existed long before, but without the blue light you could not get what you have been looking for for decades: white light.
The two collaborated with Shuji Nakamura, who was then employed by Nichia Chemicals, a small company in Tokushima, Japan.
"Will light up the 21st century"
The research result led the Academy of Sciences to concisely state: "The ordinary light bulb illuminated the entire 20th century: the LED lamp will illuminate the 21st century".
Isamu Akasaki turned 92 years old.