The Skr8 million (?690,000) prize money will be shared by Isamu Akasaki of Japan¡¯s Meijo University and Nagoya University, Hiroshi Amano of Nagoya University and Shuji Nakamura of the University of California, Santa Barbara.

In a statement, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, which awards the prize, says the invention of blue LEDs in the early 1990s ¡°triggered a fundamental transformation of lighting technology¡±.

Using LEDs for lighting is much more efficient than using incandescent or fluorescent bulbs. But while red and green diodes had been around for a long time, blue ones were also necessary to make white light.

¡°Despite considerable efforts, both in the scientific community and in industry, the blue LED had remained a challenge for three decades,¡± the academy says.

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¡°The LED lamp holds great promise for increasing the quality of life for over 1.5 billion people around the world who lack access to electricity grids: due to low power requirements it can be powered by cheap local solar power.¡±

The academy adds that awarding the prize for ¡°an invention of greatest benefit to mankind¡± is ¡°in the spirit of Alfred Nobel¡±.

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Professor Nakamura¡¯s prize has previously been predicted by David Pendlebury, Thomson Reuters citation analyst, based on his very high citation count.

paul.jump@tesglobal.com