Why It Was Almost Impossible to Make the Blue LED
The blue LED was supposed to be impossible-until a young engineer proposed a moonshot idea. Head to brilliant.org/veritasium to start your free 30-day trial, and the first 200 people get 20% off an annual premium subscription.
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Huge thanks to the UC Santa Barbara Materials Dept (ssleec.ucsb.edu/) for taking us around.
Thanks to Álvaro Bermejillo Seco for reviewing the science.
Thanks to these especially helpful sources:
Nobel Prize Biography - Shuji Nakamura - ve42.co/NakamuraNobel
Johnstone, B. (2015). Brilliant!. Prometheus Books. - ve42.co/Johnstone2015
Nakamura, S., Pearton, S., & Fasol, G. (2010). The Blue Laser Diode: The Complete Story. Springer. - ve42.co/Nakamura2010
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References:
• How LED Works - Unrave...
• How diodes, LEDs and s...
• How Blue LEDs Changed ...
• How Blue LEDs Were Inv...
Touchstone, L. A. (2022). Nick Holonyak Jr. University of Illinois. - ve42.co/Touchstone2022
Perry, T. S. (1995). The Unsung Inventor. IEEE Spectrum. - ve42.co/Perry1995
Chabay, R. & Sherwood, B. (2011). Matter & interactions (4th ed.), S2: Semiconductors. Wiley. - ve42.co/ChabaySherwood
How MOCVD Works via Aixtron - ve42.co/MOCVD
Vangala, S. R., et al. (2019). Epitaxial growth of ZnSe on GaAs. Journal of Crystal Growth. - ve42.co/Vangala2019
Nakamura, S. (1991). GaN Growth Using GaN Buffer Layer. JJAP. - ve42.co/Nakamura3rd1991
Amano, H., et al. (1989). P-Type Conduction in Mg-Doped GaN w/ LEEBI. JJAP. - ve42.co/Amano1989
Huang, M., et al. (2021). Defects in Mg-H‐Codoped GaN. Physica Status Solidi. - ve42.co/Huang2021
Schubert, E. F. (2006). Light Emitting Diodes, Ch 4: LED basics. Cambridge University Press. - ve42.co/RPI-LEDs
Kitada, C. (2001). Blue About Japan. Japan Inc. - ve42.co/Kitada2001
Whitaker, T. (2002). Nakamura loses Nichia patent battle. Optics.org. - ve42.co/NichiaSales3
Pirates Osaka. (2014). Nakamura awarded Nobel Prize in Physics. Hatena Blog. - ve42.co/NichiaSales1
Growth Bozu via Twitter. - ve42.co/NichiaSales2
Rose, J. (2014). Blue LEDs - Filling the world with new light. The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. - ve42.co/Rose2014
Pattison, P. M., et al. (2017). LED lighting efficacy. Comptes Rendus Physique. - ve42.co/Pattison2017
Electricity pricing via EIA - ve42.co/ElectricityPricing
Lane, K., et al. (2023). Lighting. IEA. - ve42.co/LightingIEA
LED Footprint via The Climate Group - ve42.co/ClimateGroupLED
Nichia’s History via Nichia - ve42.co/NichiaHistory
Shuji Nakamura via Wikipedia - ve42.co/NakamuraWiki
Images & Video:
Lighting the World via UCTVInsight on KZhead - ve42.co/UCTVep2 & ve42.co/UCTVep3
Palo Alto Times 1971 Article via Newspapers.com - ve42.co/Newspapers
Nick Holonyak, Jr. and the LED via UIUC on KZhead - ve42.co/HolonyakIllinois
The Original Blue LED via Science History Institute on KZhead - ve42.co/OGBlueLED
Maxfield, M. (2022). Compound Semiconductors. EE Journal. - ve42.co/Maxfield2022
M. Stutzmann, et al. (2001). Playing with Polarity. pss (b). - ve42.co/Stutzman2001
Isamu Akasaki in 1995 via Andrey Nikolaev on KZhead - ve42.co/AsakiNikolaev
Pioneer TX-610 Stereo Tuner via Ian Marino on KZhead - ve42.co/StereoMarino
Shuji Nakamura via EPO on KZhead - ve42.co/NakamuraEPO
Nichia Campus via Nichia on LinkedIn - ve42.co/NichiaHQ
Nichia via TDElektronik on KZhead - ve42.co/NichiaTDE
Violeds Sterilization of COVID-19 via Seoul Viosys - ve42.co/SterilizationUV
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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
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Music from Epidemic Sound
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
Hooray, capitalism!
what did you expect from some upper class twat that got the company trough marrying the daughter of the company?
Greed
Well they’re the ones providing the money. If they don’t think they’re getting results they get nervous and pull funding. Same thing would happen if it was a person with their own money or a friend’s money
@@ShaunDreclin Ideal capitalism would have rewarded him. We have gone beyond that point to where past successes are use to monopolize future success. The logical end of capitalism.. It will always get here unless controls are in place. EDIT I was just making a sarcastic comment trolling "capitalists" and corporatists. I am a now retired engineer and fascinated by the invention process. not economics. I had no intension of hijacking a science based thread into some economic system debate. I apologize to Veritasium for this getting out of hand.
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.
Seriously, with a physics lesson in what makes semiconductors work thrown in the middle.
yeah BLUE LED is amazing for sure!!!! 🔵🔵🔵🔵
Had he listened to his shortsighted bosses and not been stubborn then we would still be using incandesceng lightbulbs like Trump wants us to.
His life's work and his masterpiece... So far... I am interested to see what his contributions will be to nuclear fusion now!
blue is my favorite color as well.
The man really said "I'm interested in physics" like that's not the understatement of the century
My brother in Christ, you won a Nobel Prize for inventing one of most important physics inventions ever.
I love Theoretical Physics!, and I am a high school dropout.
@@BartzabelAlgol You can pursue what you like buddy, dropping out is not anything significant, All the best 😊
It must be insane being him and being able to look at so many things and go "that is directly the result of MY work and research", that's so awesome.
Yeah and we were staring at his work while watching the video too unless you had a CRT monitor.
This is extremely inspiring honestly! I really hope he published any books I could read.
Bro really went from "Ignored for not having a PhD" to "Nobel Prize winner"
True point. One of the great engineering come back stories.
I hope all the clowns that treated Nakamura badly shrunk down in their seats and realized how small and irrelevant they really are.
Pretty common surprisingly. I still find it funny that big bang theory was conceived by a Christian pastor and he was dismissed because it was "too Godly", and now it's the prevailing theory because it has the most logic behind it scientifically.
@@safebox36 the internet has corrupted me. Why did I think of the show😭
@@safebox36ok NOW you are sending me down a rabbithole
Don’t ever go back making “television”. This is so much better. A great story from beginning to end with a spectacular entry of the main character. No spoilers, no previews. KZhead at its best. TV will never reach this level of storytelling. Hats off to your illustrator too.
The narrator is a scientist he understands what he is talking about. TV is mostly made up of journalists with basic information on many topics generally
Couldn’t agree more about the great storytelling 😊
I agree. This was so thrilling
@@asstacoI'd also like to know
@@hawdgeal In his life story video, he mentioned that he wanted to become a filmmaker.
Breaks my heart to see pioneers of science and technology getting screwed over by greedy corporations. Mr. Nakamura seems like a truly nice and genuine human being. Congratulations Mr. Nakamura
Can’t ever forget what they did to Alan Turing, saved millions and was done a cruel injustice.
Stop being an antisemite
@@OneWholeMarijuana God bless that old hag is 5ft under now. I hated her with a burning passion.
Tesla
one has to be fair here. its not about 'greed' all the time. thats just a stupid resentment. if you lead a company you are responsible for many things (jobs of all, income of the company and so on) and you cannot put money into everything people come up with - which is also why most startups fail. and people not reflecting that but fall into stereotypes are usually also the ones who blame in other cases a CEO/company for failures which are done if such things go wrong ('how could they with open eyes wasted that much money into a dead horse'? 'everyone knew that this was the wrong direction' and so on). And even Shuji Nakamura himself didnt know that outcome. The point here is that all superficial stereotypes either way are wrong. And the real problems are usually also rather if one acts against the reality ignorant - driven by stupid resentments. I think in even the most cases the success is due to one or a few individuals (a minority, not a majority) - but because of that understanding whats really going on is important. Resentments/prejudices are quite the opposite of that.
Look at him speaking, walking, always smiling. He's so happy to talk about his accomplishment. That's a fulfilled man right there. That's what excruciating work gets you.
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
yeah this takes the old saying about edison creating a lightbulb to a new level
He wasn't underfunded. They could've been more appreciative of his work. But it's not like he didn't get anything. He got the budget to immortalize his name, and now he's getting top jobs presumably.
This is such an incredible story that I stumbled upon by sheer accident. Although I wouldn't be able to explain the theory to another, I understood enough to appreciate the hurdles Nakamura had to overcome. Unfortunately he is 1 in a billion. If even a fraction of inventors or researchers in the world had the stamina, determination, resources and insight of this man, the world would be a very different place. It is worth noting, that despite the resulting animosity, his original company showed an enormous amount of faith and patience in him. His employment could have been terminated at any time when he was disregarding their orders. Maybe their are other amazing talents out there, who don't get the opportunity to refine their exceptional abilities.
This is such an incredible story that I stumbled upon by sheer accident. Although I wouldn't be able to explain the theory to another, I understood enough to appreciate the hurdles Nakamura had to overcome. Unfortunately he is 1 in a billion. If even a fraction of inventors or researchers in the world had the stamina, determination, resources and insight of this man, the world would be a very different place. It is worth noting, that despite the resulting animosity, his original company showed an enormous amount of faith and patience in him. His employment could have been terminated at any time when he was disregarding their orders. Maybe their are other amazing talents out there, who don't get the opportunity to refine their exceptional abilities.
@@stevendv8487 ah, you be the pawn of the MBA. MBA's are the Vampires of fair compitition. There current efforts to put up pay walls, to gouge on research, is there current step to monetize "progress" for their back row statues....meanwhile, they "inadvertently" lay waste the the very social structures that garnered their surrounding pawns support and innovation. The MBA Zealot is contemporary histories growing destructive force...This is to say your attitude needs a reality check..."They could have...", but oopsy, profits...aka F"k off. Your ideological positioning in your statement leads those interested by innovation to interest more self serving and less societally beneficial...a new dark age...for your personal desires of greed.
Disobedience in Japan is extreme rare. This guy is TWO true heroes.
Probably the disgusting reason the appellate court thought it will be a better lesson to Japan to learn from this story to understand it financially will not work NO. MATTER. WHAT. Even if the whole modern computation relies on you, and your industry reaches a trillion dollar scale. You will not get a f- penny. If you fight, well, you’ll need lawyers. And will make sure they will work down all the recovery you’d make. F- disgusting.
$170 bonus! 😁
I'm astonished he kept his job so long and kept getting his requisitions paid for all that time!
@@almasysephirot4996the appeal court didn't rule in favour of the company, they settled before they could rule.
@@bard119 Right? This is really more than insane level...
Gallium Nitride is like that one kid no one cares about in school but ends up being the one with the most successful career that everyone will be clinging on for financial support
like me :( relatable
Robotics engineering student here, if I ever met this man I think I would faint before I got the chance to thank him for his innovation. I don't think he'll ever stop being famous in like every STEM field, what an absolute legend
I'm betting the man just does not have to pay for his own drinks in some places.
@@ironhead2008Hell if he came over to my place I’ll buy him all the drinks he wants
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.
kek
😮
doesn't surprise me Japan is a garbage country when it comes to human compassion
hi mehdi
I love your vids mehdi ❤
This story really needs a movie made about it
Next Christopher Nolan's Biopic. Imagine!
Well, your comment really came out of the blue ? I agree 👍
You're so greedy, this channel already made a somewhat comprehensive narrative and you still want more, probably fictionalized and for what? Your entertainment? Can't you just appreciate it now
Agree!
Noticing when different LEDs became available I wondered about this for years! Thanks for the explanation!
Imagine having a the balls to listen to lecture, tell the man working in your lab that he doesnt know what he's doing despite everyone doing what you recommend is failing, then when he actually succeed in his world changing, billion dollar creation you not only don't reward him but you also spite him by giving him the lowest bonus in history. Then when he leaves because you quite literally spat in his face you try to sue him AND you also make sure he doesn't get his just rewards despite the law actually thinks he deserves them. THEN when the man gets a god damn nobel prize and says HE wants to make amends you turn him down???? Quite honestly I'm going to start looking if the bulbs i buy are made by Nishia and avoid them like the plague. I don't think I've heard of a more severe case of corporate hubris
I had just started work as a graphic designer at a sign company in 2007 when I had learned that not all LED colors cost the same or perform the same, and that blue had been very difficult or impossible for a long time. Now I will finally satisfy my curiosity on the subject (hopefully)
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 price well deserved, and then some.
Yeah, I was at HP Labs at that time, and we were contemplating spending $10 for a wimpy blue LED to detect yellow ink dots on paper in an inkjet printer, to determine if the inkjet printhead was working. And then came along Shuji Nakamura’s blue LED from Nichia. A mind blowing achievement!
That's really cool
It 'blue' your mind! 😉
@@pandoraeeris7860I don't understand pons 😢
Nakamura single-handedly changed the world. And he only got a $170 bonus for that. 😢
Mr. Nakamura is a hidden giant everyone should know more about. Incredible tenacity and great video.
hikaru has over 1m subs so i think hes known well enough
I love hikaru too
@@jettaeschroff6924bro ,he is not talking about Hikaru Nakamura,he is talking about the man who invented blue LED
Dr.
@@Creator0369 r/woooosh
This just blew (blue) my mind. I gotta commend you for that explanation of N-type & P-type semiconductors because that was one of the toughest things to grasp in my undergrad electrical engineering courses. I clicked on this video simply because the very first lab assignment we had in my Electronic Design lab course was to design 2 circuits, one basically being a circuit that acts as a television remote that transmits at a certain frequency, and the other circuit being a detector that only operates at that frequency, and once detected, illuminates a BLUE LED. At the time I certainly didn't understand the significance of that color LED at all. I was brand new to any understanding of semiconductors and wouldn't have gone much deeper until the solid-state electronics course I took my senior year (the explanations of semiconductors in this video are still far better than any explanation I received taking that course btw!). This is an incredibly touching story and I'm glad to see he's still doing well and working on the next world-changing thing! I'll be wrapping up my Master's degree here in a little over a month. I hope to have the backbone, grit, tenacity, and dedication to do something as incredible as Dr. Nakamura someday!
Lame ass pun
The current school/ education system is outdated and killing interests and talents in children's mind and soul.
I did electronic engineering in the late 1990s, when the "blue LED" is finally here craze was just hitting. I literally studied this stuff, as it was happening and even still, this video honestly does a better job of explaining it. As an aside, I also remember the absolute marketing-hype at the time, around gallium being the future and how silicon was "going to be replaced" in a few years by this wonder-stuff (which obviously never panned out).
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.
I am so thankful for people like this.
I love how you described this, " first clue that he was on the right path " I mean all what I was thinking about is how is he sure about the path he is into. 18 months had the chance to be a waste of time, but now and thankfully he made it .
Let's not forgot how the company fucked him over. Remember, unions are key.
@@igx_s2745 i think Thomas Edison's quote applies here. he found 1000 ways not to make a blue LED but found 1 after 18 months of non-stop trial.
No Unions would have prevented him from working all those hours. Never would have happened with a Union. All Unions achieve is wealth for Union leaders.@@mascambios
I absolutely love the way Nakamura walks while wildly swinging his hands.
I thought it was so goofy and kinda reminded me of an excited little kid 😂
I also noticed that 😂
The gojo walk
I would 100% trust any person who walks like that. I believe its the ultimate way of telling if someone is genuine.
@@shirtstealer86lol then you probably never seen a meth junkie.... All of them swing their hands like that
I was educated on LEDs functioning as part of my aircraft technician training in Europe. The explanations in here were spot on and fairly easy to understand. I cant imagine the feeling of showing of what was thought to be impossible...
Only 50% of LED in residential lighting blew me away. Figured it would be much higher now. I'm an electrician and every light in my house is LED and every light we install in houses and businesses is LED and has been for a good 5-6 years at the least. Dude is my hero because LED lighting is much more efficient, you can run 8-9 parking lot pole lights or more off a single 20amp circuit with LED. Before you had to use a 30amp circuit for every 3-4 pole light give or take depending on the lights and they generated so much heat that you had to be careful because the heat from the light could melt the electrical wiring. Blue LED is hands down one of the best technological advancements of the 20th century
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!
i was hare for this comment!
Thank goodness 😢
It felt like the script was heading that direction 😂 soooo glad it ends well in the end🎉
Before I finished the video, I was betting that the company was gonna screw him over and he wouldn't get compensation. Lo and behold I just became a prophet. It's a sad state when everyone is expecting a screwjob to happen and it happens. Lawmakers are so head over heels with companies, when they ask for copyright laws, lawmakers would pass bills in a heartbeat. But when an individual citizen is asking for fair policy, nothing ever changes.
I’m so happy Nakamura is being properly compensated for his work now. Nichia completely took advantage of him and he deserved so much more.
The part where Nichia still kept being stubborn despite Nakamura himself choosing to be the bigger man and offer his hand out first later on, really got my blood boiling. Well, I guess money really can't buy class.
@@MostIntelligentMan Did you skip the first half of the video? Literally half the worlds experts in that space were trying to crack the puzzle, Toshiba alone spend millions in research. lmao 20 people
It's like, for years, Nichia indulged Nakamura's tinkering, distinctly against their better judgement, in his lab which must have seemed to them like nothing more than a money pit... and then, when Nakamura succeeds against all the odds and hands them the Golden Goose, _that's_ when they decide to screw him over?! Go figure them Japanese, huh?!
oh wow, you are not a smart one huh@@MostIntelligentMan
@@MostIntelligentManobvious rage bait
ความสำเร็จที่แท้จริงเกิดขึ้นหลังจากการทำงานหนัก ความมุ่งมั่น ความมีวินัย ความเชื่อมั่นในตนเอง ความขยันหมั่นเพียร และความอุตสาหะ นากามูระเป็นตัวอย่างที่ดีที่สุด ขอแสดงความนับถืออย่างสูงครับท่าน
I love how they used actual artists to make this video, makes me appreciate it more!
"I'm interested in learning about nuclear fusion so I started a nuclear fusion company" is the most chad thing i've ever heard in my life
Dude for real
What does Chad mean
@@paulk7446a meme about an ultra masculine male with giant muscles, especially if referring to "gigachad"
@@paulk7446Chad is a 21st century reinterpretation of Nietzsche's Übermensch.
@@paulk7446it’s a Google away brother
Can we appretiate how Nakemura basically changed the world and yet he seems to be so humble ?
I finished the video and am sitting here like why isn’t this guy talked about more? He’s literally the reason the world is as it is today. Like working on something that long that was thought to be impossible? Makes me wonder what other big technological barriers we have right now that haven’t been solved
@@justinmaxon12 Anti-matter or dark energy. The moment anyone figure them out, humanity will bend physics to its core.. But lets not get too far a head of ourselves. A true perpetual motion mechanics isn't even been solve yet.
True change begins with a humble heart. It is only through humility that we can fully grasp the complexities of our world and its flaws.
@@justinmaxon12 Modern society is built on countless invaluable discoveries in various fields. Transistors, fertilizers, plastics, radio, cryptography and lasers are all of life-changing but most people (myself included) don't talk about their inventors.
@@justinmaxon12 This story is amazing, but there are countless of similarly amazing stories throughout our history!
It's ironic that such an awesome, exciting story centers around getting a little light to glow the color of calmness. This documentary is a masterpiece, and I'm happy more people(including me) can give Nakamura and his hard work the recognition he deserves.
Man, what a mind and spirit, Nakumara is like John Wick of electronics: sheer relentless will! This HAS to be made into a series with a great chunk going to Nakumara.
It seems a typical historical issue, the actual inventor of a particular item tends to get the shorter end of a large stick, while the upper levels of the ladder get the best rewards.
well, if money is the best reward for you, for me, what he ended up with is much more valuable than all the money in revenue for the whole LED industry. an achievement of that scale, having spent your whole life for a purpose and achieveing the greatest of successes is far more valuable than all the money you could get, because in the end you'll die regardless, so being able to make a contribution that size to humanity, something bigger than yourself and all of us and that will outlast us, that is the ultimate reward for me, because as long as it serves a purpose for the advancement of the civilization, it's gonna be not just worth it, but truly meaningful, even if no one remembers who made it, just as long as somebody, like you and me, can take the time to appreciate what you gave to everyone else, i think that is far more success than some green paper tickets, and that is something none of the people in the upper levels of the ladder could even fathom to assess
History will forget their names, while he will go down as one of the greats They won the battle, he won the war
With that said, people who progress humanity in this kind of way should be entitled to financial comforts. It's not a question of whether or not they are being exploited, of course they are- and they will hopefully be recognised fondly by the people in the know (that's the scientific and engineering communities). But they should still be rewarded with a good standard of living no matter their circumstance or future positions. @@candyman7084
That's all very nice but I gotta imagine if the guy had a few million free and clear, it would still feel pretty good. Financial security and all.
@@unclejoeoaklandHe had plenty of job offers from the US and now is a professor at UCSB. I'm sure he is more than secure financially.
Being an electronics engineer I can assure you guys this 30 mins video almost covered 100hrs of lectures and all the major topics about semiconductors.💙
This was so good I watched it twice. For a young engineer who finds themselves working thousands of extra hours on their own time to prove their ideas to management, don’t give up. If management can’t give you enough leeway, then it’s better to push it until you’re successful or fired. My whole career I did this. It led to several breakthroughs where the leads would ask how did you do that? Stuff like claiming Java could run as fast as C and proving it out. Never retreat, attack in a different direction. I never got fired for working an extra 4 hours for the company 😂
... almost...
Shut up
yeah... true
True! And better explained 🤣
True Success comes after a lot of hard work, determination, discipline, self belief, diligence and perseverance. Nakamura is the best example of all. Great respect sir.
What a beautiful animation for semiconductors as LEDs.
It's honestly tragic how he got screwed over so badly by the company that he basically singlehandedly saved from the brink of bankruptcy.
Capitalism will always brutalize the innovators it depends on.
@@RchamTVwait till you hear about the inventor experience in the USSR
@@ericsilver9401 Whataboutism is not something intelligent people partake in.
@@ericsilver9401its almost like its a larger problem that stems from human nature and not because of your political stands Both you and rchamtv are seeing only the front side of a problem without looking at its angles another fun human nature thing Shocker
Peak CEO moment right there.
This was surprisingly emotional. Watching someone go from shunned by everyone to the cover of all those magazines and then the Nobel Prize. Jeez dude. Made me teary. What an amazing human.
this is what genius is about, hard work and endurance, what a Chad.
I was just coming to say the same; teary-eyed from Derek's storytelling is becoming the new normal for me. He does such a great job showing the human side of science and engineering, and he treats them with care and respect. I love his videos like this.
@@ivanleon6164 Hard work, endurance, and LUCK. Don't forget there are thousands out there like him who will never find their breakthrough.
no such thing as shunx or for or etc
@@zes3813 Take a deep breath and type that in English.
What a modest man he wouldn't even admit everything was because of him.
For the love of human kind, how do I get his determination. Decades of work, ignoring the denial, making things no-one support until becoming the one leading the path. We need him and we need to be like him.
This was better than most Hollywood biopics and Netflix documentaries. Absolute genius and such a great man.
My gripe with most tv documentaries nowadays is they linger on some scenes without narration for unnecessarily long time. Like I get it, please continue with the story
Estoy triste porque es mi cumpleanos y no tuve ningun suscriptor
this could honestly be an amazing movie or a show if they execute it well
Most documentary will show the history of semiconductors for first 20 minutes, gloss over the minute details and cut out the fallout with the CEO.
My biggest gripe with modern documentaries is the docu-drama. Either make a straight up documentary or a biopic, none of these in-between stuff. They usually have bad acting, bad dialogue, and they can become repetitive because the actors just repeat what the narrator has already said. It really kills the pacing because you have this 10-minute badly acted scene when the narrator can just explain it in 2 minutes.
This video is literally golden, I was focused the whole time, not a single minute was boring. I have learn huge amount of information, but not too much. This should be shown in schools.
True
Well, literally it's a bit more blue than golden, but... (Sorry :P)
Yes! Is the right amount of entertainment, education and story
This is real education
It’s even bigger.. the blue ray laser came from this too. Toshiba freaked out cause they had just wasted years on HDDVD that was obsolete before consumer release. The blue ray could put 50 gig (dual layer) while the Toshiba HDDVDs max was 30 (dual layer). Sony would invest in the blue laser and Nakamura. Toshiba terminated the HDDVD in 2008. Wikipedia has it all if you search high definition disc wars .
The First photo of him holding the LED goes so hard knowing the great lengths that have been gone through to even attempted this
This is a beautiful story of consistency, strong-headedness, and just sheer passion. I love it. It has taught me so many lessons.
I have a PhD in physical chemistry, studying the energy levels of semiconductors, and I've never heard as concise and clear explanation of semiconductors from any of the courses I've taken, and then that information is made tangible in this human story. Great story telling, great science communication, great animations. I absolutely love your videos.
yeah, I'm a 20 year engineer in Japan and felt the same.
That is amazing to hear from experts in the field. It seems that experts usually find shortcomings in these simplified explanations of complex phenomena.
It made dummies like me understand it so it did a good job.
I never took physics past high school, and I understand the mechanisms behind electricity, conductors, and semiconductors a hell of a lot better after this video. It had never occurred to me that I'd never really seen blue LED's until I was in high school. The green and red ones were all over the place of course, but I don't remember blue ones. I'd wondered before about why LED technology seemed to just suddenly be *there*, and this video answered that for me.
Do you know that structured water can pool electrons and that mercury can act as a greedy semi conductor?
Around the 27:45 mark, my laptop's battery was running out. The power button was blinking with a *blue light*, and I just kept staring at the blue backlit keyboard. It really made me think about how the things I use daily is someone's entire lifetime of work. Thanks for telling such stories, Veritasium. I appreciate your work.
lenovo ideapad moment
@@petervh1301 bro 😂 yes I have a Lenovo IdeaPad...
Good timing.
Shuji Nakamura created the world we see today and that cannot be understated. He is one of Japan's greatest inventors of all time. He became the world's second Edison and Tesla put together. On behalf of humanity the least the world can do is thank Shuji Nakamura for everything he's done.
The more I think about how many devices have been greatly enhanced through Mr Nakamura's work and passion not just consumer but medical and scientific the more it blows my mind. Thank you Sir you have made all our live so much better.
Everything else aside, your explanation of semiconductors & the stadium seats synergy made this complex topic so easy to understand. I hope they show this in schools.
Estoy triste porque es me cumpleanos y no tuve ningun suscriptor
yess! recently learned abt semiconductors and this video was icing on the cake
I never really got how doping worked... but the explanation of energy-bands helped a lot
@@beamshooter yeah it's a bit messy at first, even with animations and all but they way I understood doping is literally the meaning of word itself. It's like the production quantity of free electrons (or even holes) is on steroids, so the semiconductor has more functionality!
I'm not a boron, you are!
This is my favorite Veritasium video. It goes betond the science and takes us through the life of a hard working man. He started from a fishing village, ignored his companies orders, and changed the world. He still has his values to thank Nichia despite the scum of a CEO, and saved himself from a lifetime of bitterness.
100% my favorite too, this channel seems to never miss with it's content; but this one stood far and away above all others. Incredible work Veritasium team
Same. Taught the diode process way better then anything I've seen before, and that was just the first 10 minutes.
Yeah, this was an awesome video. I hope folks can stomach some electron lessons to hear the rest in the video
by far in top 5 best youtube videos I ever seen
I think what adds the cherry on top of this video is that Derek visited and interviewed the creator in person.
It's the best scientific epic I've seen on the internet, congratulations! Nakamura's obstinacy in the good sense of the term is proof that with little means but audacity and infinite patience, anything is possible... THANKS !!! Thierry - France
I came here to learn why blue LED light was difficult to make, but I left feeling motivated! - Be excellent in all that you do! You never know what knowledge or skill set will become useful! - Be relentless- defy the status quo. - Dont give up🙏🏿
"And this is because of you" I'm honestly glad you said that - I feel like Nakamura doesn't get enough credit for (and might downplay) how much of a part he's played in modern technology
The only ones who have gained from his tireless work are his old company and the parasitic lawyers who gobbled all his compensation.
Yes, this is what happens daily. They would keep him in court until he would be in financial ruin. That is why he settled for the money that probably paid for his legal fees and perhaps some minor payout, but that is IF anything was left. These companies can keep you in court for as long as they like, just to prevent you from getting some. They must make an example of your, otherwise everyone would be suing companies for giving you a tiny piece of what you give them in the end. Now as your employer of course needs to profit from you in the end, but the ratio should be FAIR to some degree.
Hikaru Nakamura
@@acmhfmggrueven if so, it was not initiated by the company 😄
Applies to most technology and inventions to be fair.
I love that guy he seems friendly and open to talk to everybody who knows about his story.
and humble enough to pretend he wasn't the sole reason there still exists research facilities dedicated to LEDs
Bloody bots everywhere
@@kiruthikpranav5047 yes. I almost didn’t notice how humble he was truly a hero for the modern tv screen age.
wrrr, say, can say etc any nmw s perfx
@@sudarshan3965 I ain’t no bot bud lol
Cree is the gold standard in the LED industry. Nothing comes close to their precision and efficiency.
Another amazing story with so many aspects to think about.....Thanks for your brilliant documentary!
I got to see Dr. Nakamura give a talk about his career at UCSB. It was fascinating. He got a big laugh from the audience by claiming that the secret to winning a Nobel prize is apparently "working on something nobody else thought was a viable research direction". He comes across as very humble and personable in person.
I want to know how the people felt who talked him down after his discovery😂
That had to be an honor to meet such an important person in today's society. The majority of things we use today were shunned by investors during their initial research and development days. Dr. Nakamura is among the few great examples of great minds who ignored investors. I hope he's heavily invested in the blue LED stocks.
Lol, it should be obvious, but most people don't think about the fact that chasing trends usually won't work for most people, you have to be the one to set them. I guess the humor here is that it's so obvious that most people don't really realize it.
I saw him speak in New Jersey back in 2016. He’s an incredible person and told us about how everyone above him dismissed his efforts
@@fireared9244 They are still coping
31:00 the way he swings his arms while talking about nuclear fusion is so precious. What a happy dude
he seems quite hyperactive
Mental disorders and old age
The second I saw it, I went straight to the comments to see if anyone else saw it haha
@@piotrgraniszewski8544 "Anyone who isnt completely normal has a mental disorder." My brother I think you should look in the mirror if you're looking for someone with a mental disorder
he wants to get hired to work on deep state projects, the weird walking is not enough and his expertise is too late for going into exotic physics.
Absolutely wonderful presentation! Not only of the tenacity and inventiveness of a determined genius, but of the science of LEDs and the pitfalls that he faced while attempting a glorious breakthrough that literally changed the world!! Thanks!!
This is so much more impactful than school. My physics teacher glossed over LEDs as just 'a diode that emits light' and ive always wonder how they work at a basic level
Why did that ending statement about his favorite color almost make me cry. The fact that his favorite color being blue is so rooted in how he grew up and he was the person who finally figured out how to display it with a LED
It's great poetry!
Electric Blue has always been my favorite color. Add in a highlight color of white and it's perfect.
I love how veratisium always choses to explain things rather than just telling p and n there are two type of semiconductor. I am in 12th boards India science stream and I have never understood semiconductor this beautifully though I am doing JEE
How does that make one cry?
@@adi5877 because I’m a very emotional and sensitive person and I’m 100% fine with that
I love how they only revealed nakamuras real life interview at the end. Such a humble, cheerful, brilliant man
Yes. And what it cost to keep that cheer and determination.
Knew him personally for a long time, an incredibly intelligent and humble guy
I respect the maker of this video for interviewing the humble man of such large accomplishments* (spell check out of order) Mp
I'm so jealous. People like him are a genuine treasure. And so very rare. I hope to become one myself, someday. It's a deeply expensive process.@@Rangeofranges
Wow that was an incredible explanation of not only LEDs, but semiconductors as well! I've read and watched so much material on those specifically, and never felt like I truly understood it until now and I *really* appreciate that!!!
Excellent documentary. So much I didn't know about a technology I take for granted. Mr Nakamura you have earned my respect to the level of Sagen and Tesla (the inventor, not car)
The animations used to explain how diodes, and specifically LEDs work, is the best and most clear explanation I've EVER seen. There were multiple moments while watching that I said out loud: "Oohhhh, of course, that's why!"
Completely agree
Did not understand it at all..
I was about to say the same thing. The animation did a better job explaining LEDs than an entire semiconductor course did for me in undergrad!
I agree!@@nathansegers9293
I'm still lost, not sure what's atom and what there XDD, and the animations of the layers fade quickly. Might rewatch.
I have a PhD in engineering. I worked on GaN diodes in the past. But if I ever have to explain a p-n diode, band gap, or doping, I will just refer to your video. Excellent job Derek.
zip it up when you're done 🙏
@@asisfjyouve commented this on everything in this comments section, just what are you hoping to achieve
As an electrical engineer myself I must agree the explanation on the PN gap is brilliant
@@irishwristwatch2487A reaction that turns C into anger
I studied this in university so it was cool to see the visual representation!
A true hero. These scientists are real ppl who help humanity. They supposed be well recognised and famous instead of drunk and drug addict actors, singers and models.
I've taken courses in material sciences for semiconductors and the way you explained how they work was spot on. It's incredibly difficult to think about how energy bands work and especially when we start getting into doping of semiconductor material.
Standard model physics is awful and about 100 years out of date.
That blur-shot of the 3 LED colors combined - creating various combined color combinations with added labels - was AWESOME!
same feeling here too
Tmkc
@@madhavkulkarni1 paaya kya hai aapne? bkl madhav 😊
Time stamp? I'm listening to most of this because I can't watch my screen rn
@@mcnotsodreamy0:41
It wouldn't be a Veritasium episode without Derek explaining something like the P-N junction better than I understand it after my semester of solid state physics. This was a good one, and touching! I am glad he is getting the recognition he deserves.
Im in EE so I havent gone too deep into the actual physics of pn junctions, but I have never understood why holes and electrons have different mobilites. Makes a lot more sense now that I know the holes are in the valence band and the electrons are in the conduction band.
Right?! I never really got pn junctions in school. FETs made more intuitive sense. This would have been great back then.
I'm in high school and nothing about the pn junction was new. In fact it's all in my finals☠️
I watched the hole video thrice times, but I still don't understand even though I am trying :(
Man the video makes all the difference. The textbooks diagrams can't come close.
I watched it over with tears, Nakamura is the man with 200% perspiration.
What a brilliant mind and individual. The stubbornness and commitment to learn what he needs from whoever will teach him, improve other people's methods, make what he can't buy and ignore those who dont believe in him is just so admirable.
Working under such discouraging and debilitating conditions then to not be compensated for his incredible work is so heart wrenching. Nichia's profits off his back yet they still have him as a rogue outcast!
The company paid him for years with no guarantee of result, i.e. took the financial risk from him. Would he invent the LED without the financial support? Would you risk your money like the company did?
@@cheesebusinessbut in the end they've got many folds of what they've invested, it should've been enough to reconciliate
@@cheesebusiness taking a risk to make profit is what companys exist to do. at the end of the day, his higher ups were wrong and he well and truly gave them more profit through his LED than they ever spent on him or his research. no matter how much luck was to do with it, he should be compensated because that's now the reality. if i was upset with a guy spending my money and then one day he shows me a product that will make my money back within weeks or days, i would have no problem compensating because its just a drop in the bucket and its the right thing to do.
When he negotiated with the company to get the investment he should have asked for a contract that garaunteed compensation. OR Shop each corporation untill he found one that would compensate him.
@@cheesebusiness stfu, Results are what matters in business. HE DID GET THE RESULTS now Nichia should've paid his price
As an electrical engineering student, I can say this was by far the clearest and most accurate explanation of diodes I have ever heard. This video was fascinating!
Right? I had the same thought that this video was a better discussion of the topic than I got in engineering school.
@@shassett79 agreed. ive always had a foggy memory of whats a p type and n type semiconductor but the visualization here is outstanding. also it feels so goddamn weird that we're alive w in the same time as this guy who basically had invented displays...damn i hope theres a space resort when im 60 lol. also props to my lecturers who use youtoob vids like these for lectures lesgoooo
I was about to make the same comment. I'm a materials engineer and I feel like this video could easily replace 40+ hours worth of electrical materials and semiconductors classes
you better be realizing that BJT is in reality a voltage controlled device at the end of this.
@@mbian0same762 Well obviously, you can't create the electrical forces necessary to force a current through the p/n divide without ample voltage (hence the energy inefficiency problem with the UV diode)
That "High Quality crystal" being the key to achieving "blue". I feel like I've seen this show before....
You got a little into the weeds with the semi-conductor explanation, but recovered as you got into how that affected diodes, esp LEDs. I enjoyed this more than I expected.
Nakamura sounds like a true enthusiastic scientist. And a lovely character. The world needs more of him.
Giving very much anime movie I would watch!
*Veritasium inspires me... My parents said if I reach 25K followers, they will buy me a professional camera for recording... literally begging you guys* ❤️ ....
He teaches at UC Santa Barbara where I work. I've seen him give talks, he's an engaging speaker.
For real. He didn't even seem to really care all that much about the money he could have made. He just knew he could make a blue LED work.And he did, with essentially home made machines, by himself, with no support from his company. And he is still working on the next evolution of LEDs, it's honestly amazing.
@@universaltoons bro stop for begging you begger 🤬
Dude, you're out there interviewing people who actually moved our species years further in terms of progress and seeing him connecting with you so well and talk about his love for physics and knowing that you will definitely match the vibe is just heartwarming specially for a person who had such a huge impact on everyone's life yet never compensated properly for it. Bless your soul, Derek.
We aren't a species. We're humans. One of a kind. We've always been human. If you believe we evolved, you must believe that humans didn't all evolve equally all over the planet and some must be behind others on the ladder of evolution. Darwin certainly did.
@@RuminatingWizardWow, every word of what you just said is wrong!
@StayStrapped2A well, I kinda agree with the different pace of evolution you mentioned, to be honest (take remote tribes who refuse to/can't communicate with the rest of us), but that wasn't exactly my point. It's just that english isn't my first language, and sometimes I struggle to make my point come across clearly😅
@@RuminatingWizardare you saying arctic inuits and african savannah tribepeople have the same adaptation?
@@RuminatingWizard If you're a science denying religious nut why are you even here watching the evil devil's work? Don't you know the earth's flat, only six thousand years old and these so called LEDs are actually dark magic? Put down the desert cult fanfiction and use your brain.
the best chapter of your videos that I`ve ever seen. great story!!!
Wow! I never appreciated something so “everyday” so much. Thank you, Mr. Nakamura.
As an EE graduate, you explain semiconductors, diodes and doping in such an intuitive manner, I finally understood how these things work. Kudos to probably one of your best produced videos of all time
Truly. Why did I never fine such visualizations before. I'm final year in IT though.
Why not just use blue transparent plastic?
@@__Mr.White__ I will have to watch video first to think if I could possibly answer it or not 💀
@__Mr.White__ they did. When they were showing the 70s stereo when the competitions "pseudo_Blue" were much less luminous. And how when they added yellow translucent caps to get a "pseudo-white" light.
Seriously! Like the whole N-type vs P-type which I will no longer confuse...!
I dont know why but this story enthralled me in a way that no other science story has. The determination and will power to keep going is staggering. Needs to be turned into a movie for REAL.
It's also the editing and writing of this video, absolutely expertly done. Proper documentary level work.
I've been ignoring Veritasium lately. But today I was reminded why I subscribed.
If you haven't, watch the first season of cosmos with Neil degrase Tyson. It's full of theses types of stories. A masterpiece!
This would have definitely been perfect movie material decades ago, but with the current attitude of using movies to push garbage anti White race propaganda just doesn't bode well. OK perhaps give it to the Japanese or Korean movie base, but for fucks sake do NOT let hollywank touch it.
And the impact it had on the world too
Such a great job explaining band gap, depletion region, and n-type/p-type for semiconductors. Would have been a great compliment for my circuit classes for transistors.
So glad I watched this I finally understand about the valence and conduction bands
This guy is awesome. He wasn't just doing some cutting edge research and happened to figure something out that lead to massive changes. He was specifically targeting a certain technology, going head to head with everyone else on Earth, and achieved his goal, which lead to his technology being used across the entire planet. What a legacy.
fake
@sihTdaeRtnaCuoY *Well said.*
Meat rider
@@DoNotPirateNoPiracywdym fake?!
@@Internetontheperson Story propagated just to try to give us hope, even though it's all over now, time to give up and hand over the planet to AI and big companies. No one person can make a difference like this anymore.
Science dissemination is a thousand times better when historical and personal contexts are included. Very good job.
I’ve seen your videos before, but this one made me subscribe. Really well researched and explained. Thanks and looking forward to the next one.
This made me cry man, thank you.
Usually, your videos are 15-20 minutes long but this one almost felt like a short documentary. It covered Nakamura's whole career and still focused on all the technical aspects of his work very well. All the electron energy band explanations and animations felt very intuitive with the subtle details like rotations being used to depict electric fields. The explanations neither felt too dumbed-down nor did the video feel overly technical and dry. You are one of the few people capable of creating this kind of content on such a technical topic. Excellent storytelling without letting the science take a backseat.
I mean, it was a short documentary not even that short, and definitely with better pacing and production than most stuff you see on TV pretty dang good stuff
I’d say about a 1/3 of his recent videos are 30 min long.
Everyone already said basically what I'd say about this brilliant presentation, so I'll just say this.... l love science and technology underdog stories... gives me hope at 3am staring at code, a blank page, an empty canvas, or a bereft music staff. My pastor and I call this, when perseverance and faith meet opportunity... and God balances the scales. "I will bless the WORK of your hand" 😅 DJ xSUBn {(-_- )}
There was some BobbyBroccoli energy here
He does periodically drop this type of video. The channel is diversified with a few video format like on-site interview tours, but these videos are the real gems.
I have always heard about "The inventors of the blue LED won the Nobel Prize" but never understood WHY it was so complicated and important. SUPER interesting video and deep dive on the subject.
I remember the time when he was awarded nobel back in 2014 (and i was in college), but I had no idea of the multiple decades of struggle behind this. Mind blowing resilience and consistency. This is what younger generation should take inspiration from, instead of tik-f***g-tok.
One inventor and two highly reluctant business owners..
@@jesser9134 Including the genius who kept trying to kiil the project.
I want more of these type of videos in my feed. What a story. What a dedication. You deserve every bit of thank yous from everyone using devices with LEDs.
Among Veritasium's already amazing work, this video is one of the mostest amazingest.. the story telling, the visualization, the actual leasson-teaching.. this is truly top tier stuff
Every time I watch a Veritasium video, I get thrilled and impressed by the same 3 things: 1. How complex are the fundamentals behind solutions that we use on our daily lives. We shouldn't take them for granted. 2. How incredible are the people stories behind them. Humans can be awful and/or awesome in truly impressive ways. 3. How well scripted and executed are his videos, and how a good didactic, storytelling, and animation can make complex topics become understandable. Thank you Derek. I would pay hundreds for your content, and here it is: free. You rock.
Exactly. Even as someone who studied electrical engineering (so the terms are not new to me), we don't pay enough attention towards the human side of it. In the end it's always about humans. Very inspiring video indeed.
These videos are growing in quality incredibly
I got to thinking the other day that these videos are better than the KPBS Nova series...
There is only one "s" in Veritasium. EDIT: Fixed now. Jrodartec had originally put "Veritassium." Too much "ass" for my taste.
We don't deserve someone like Derek but he is someone who we definitely desperately need.
Being an electronics engineer, I would say this is one of the best animations that I have ever seen to explain the LED conduction mechanism using band diagrams. Perhaps for me, this story conveys that grit, determination, and passion towards a particular problem statement can solve any obstacle faced.
I kept seeing this video and always told myself I'll watch it later. So glad I watched it! What an amazing story!
Great video, it connected so many loose ends I had in my knowledge of the blue LED's background. Thanks
I think I found my hero. The way his company handled everything was immensely disgraceful while his attitude is so light and inspiring despite everything. Love this man
it was all that stupid son in laws fault when he became the CEO, never earned his spot in the first place either, then just started making bad decisions. Blue LED's saved that company, and Nakamura didnt even get compensated.
@@DJB10T1CNO! Its the stupid capitalistic corporate culture, where engineers and technicians are being undervalued while C suits and middle management bask in riches and take the glory. How many times we hear the suits and their boot lickers say "duh, of course CEOs deserve 400x more salaries than engineers, they have more rEsPoNsIbIlItY". Best physicists, engineers, mathematicians, scientists, etc... get comparable pennies for the work and wealth they generate, while society rewards athletes, actors, managers, investors and all other kind of economy parasites.
Love his unwavering spirits! What an inspiring a story!
Corporations ☕️
Is this all from the inventor's perspective? One thing I've learned in life is there are two sides to every story. Seems like we only get one perspective. I'm glad he invented blue LED's.
Mechanical Engineer here - this is by far the best explaination I have ever seen for transisters and diodes. Excellent work!
I'm an EE, and he did a better job explaining some of these concepts than my graduate school professors.
I am a computer and communications engineer. I wish my electronics instructor explains like this, yes we learned this all but the hard way.
As a blue light lover…..I agree 😂
Where?
As a 13 year old I’m gonna start figuring out how hard it is to pick or even find the job that I want man
Your videos have gotten insanely good. I've been watching a long time and I can't believe how good you video on this and vacuum tubes were.
I have learnt so many things:- From listening a story to understanding the chapter semiconductor. Have no words to express. Just wow ❤️