Veritasium - 2024-02-08
The blue LED was supposed to be impossible—until a young engineer proposed a moonshot idea. Head to https://brilliant.org/veritasium to start your free 30-day trial, and the first 200 people get 20% off an annual premium subscription. Special thanks to our Patreon supporters! Join this list to help us keep our videos free, forever: https://ve42.co/PatreonDEB Huge thanks to the UC Santa Barbara Materials Dept (https://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 - https://ve42.co/NakamuraNobel Johnstone, B. (2015). Brilliant!. Prometheus Books. - https://ve42.co/Johnstone2015 Nakamura, S., Pearton, S., & Fasol, G. (2010). The Blue Laser Diode: The Complete Story. Springer. - https://ve42.co/Nakamura2010 ▀▀▀ References: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8M2z2hIbag https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGUteH93xNo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idwKHQEw78g https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoTALRhAqWc Touchstone, L. A. (2022). Nick Holonyak Jr. University of Illinois. - https://ve42.co/Touchstone2022 Perry, T. S. (1995). The Unsung Inventor. IEEE Spectrum. - https://ve42.co/Perry1995 Chabay, R. & Sherwood, B. (2011). Matter & interactions (4th ed.), S2: Semiconductors. Wiley. - https://ve42.co/ChabaySherwood How MOCVD Works via Aixtron - https://ve42.co/MOCVD Vangala, S. R., et al. (2019). Epitaxial growth of ZnSe on GaAs. Journal of Crystal Growth. - https://ve42.co/Vangala2019 Nakamura, S. (1991). GaN Growth Using GaN Buffer Layer. JJAP. - https://ve42.co/Nakamura3rd1991 Amano, H., et al. (1989). P-Type Conduction in Mg-Doped GaN w/ LEEBI. JJAP. - https://ve42.co/Amano1989 Huang, M., et al. (2021). Defects in Mg–H‐Codoped GaN. Physica Status Solidi. - https://ve42.co/Huang2021 Schubert, E. F. (2006). Light Emitting Diodes, Ch 4: LED basics. Cambridge University Press. - https://ve42.co/RPI-LEDs Kitada, C. (2001). Blue About Japan. Japan Inc. - https://ve42.co/Kitada2001 Whitaker, T. (2002). Nakamura loses Nichia patent battle. Optics.org. - https://ve42.co/NichiaSales3 Pirates Osaka. (2014). Nakamura awarded Nobel Prize in Physics. Hatena Blog. - https://ve42.co/NichiaSales1 Growth Bozu via Twitter. - https://ve42.co/NichiaSales2 Rose, J. (2014). Blue LEDs – Filling the world with new light. The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. - https://ve42.co/Rose2014 Pattison, P. M., et al. (2017). LED lighting efficacy. Comptes Rendus Physique. - https://ve42.co/Pattison2017 Electricity pricing via EIA - https://ve42.co/ElectricityPricing Lane, K., et al. (2023). Lighting. IEA. - https://ve42.co/LightingIEA LED Footprint via The Climate Group - https://ve42.co/ClimateGroupLED Nichia’s History via Nichia - https://ve42.co/NichiaHistory Shuji Nakamura via Wikipedia - https://ve42.co/NakamuraWiki Images & Video: Lighting the World via UCTVInsight on YouTube - https://ve42.co/UCTVep2 & https://ve42.co/UCTVep3 Palo Alto Times 1971 Article via Newspapers.com - https://ve42.co/Newspapers Nick Holonyak, Jr. and the LED via UIUC on YouTube - https://ve42.co/HolonyakIllinois The Original Blue LED via Science History Institute on YouTube - https://ve42.co/OGBlueLED Maxfield, M. (2022). Compound Semiconductors. EE Journal. - https://ve42.co/Maxfield2022 M. Stutzmann, et al. (2001). Playing with Polarity. pss (b). - https://ve42.co/Stutzman2001 Isamu Akasaki in 1995 via Andrey Nikolaev on YouTube - https://ve42.co/AsakiNikolaev Pioneer TX-610 Stereo Tuner via Ian Marino on YouTube - https://ve42.co/StereoMarino Shuji Nakamura via EPO on YouTube - https://ve42.co/NakamuraEPO Nichia Campus via Nichia on LinkedIn - https://ve42.co/NichiaHQ Nichia via TDElektronik on YouTube - https://ve42.co/NichiaTDE Violeds Sterilization of COVID-19 via Seoul Viosys - https://ve42.co/SterilizationUV ▀▀▀ Special thanks to our Patreon supporters: Chris Harper, Max Paladino, Balkrishna Heroor, Adam Foreman, Orlando Bassotto, Tj Steyn, meg noah, KeyWestr, TTST, John H. Austin, Jr., john kiehl, Anton Ragin, Diffbot, Gnare, Dave Kircher, Burt Humburg, Blake Byers, Evgeny Skvortsov, Meekay, Bill Linder, Paul Peijzel, Josh Hibschman, Juan Benet, David Johnston, Ubiquity Ventures, Richard Sundvall, Lee Redden, Stephen Wilcox, Marinus Kuivenhoven, Michael Krugman, Sam Lutfi ▀▀▀ 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
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.
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. 😢
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 .
@@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.@@geraldhosepipe
Now this should be the inventor's "perseverance" story, not Thomas Edison.
Imagine, the day when he finally created the blue LED, just staring at it and sighing like it was all worth it, goosebumps.
I was once achieved 90% confidence rate from the ML model (this is far before the days of LLMs) we're training after only got 60-80s % for months, the feeling was nothing short of 0rgasm1c. Can't imagine what Mr.Nakamura feel
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'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.
He's basically an emeritus professor at one of the biggest universities in the world and a Nobel Peace price winner. Now that's a dream.
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. YouTube 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.
One of the highlights of my life was meeting Nakemura. I'm an LED artist, and had a piece on display on stage with him once. Such a cool experience. Great guy.
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
@@parzingtheasianbro ,he is not talking about Hikaru Nakamura,he is talking about the man who invented blue LED
Dr.
@@Creator0369 r/woooosh
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.
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?
Imagine how much more innovation we would have if people like this were fairly compensated.
No... stupid. Never invent anything if you work for somebody... Duh! Plus he was getting paid and using millions of dollars in equipment to invent it. He couldn't have done it by himself. I would've discovered it, accidently acid washed the hard drives like Hillary Clinton, and moved to Silcon Valley and gotten an investor. Learn something from these videos and stories instead of being a lib cry baby victim!
We do fairly compensate. That’s why America leads in innovation and Japan is lagging behind now.
@@chrischen21I mean america doesn't compensate them all too fairly. but it is true that japan especially heavily discourages individuals carving their own path like Dr. Nakamura
It’s part of why we don’t have that future the 80’s movies dreamed of. The other piece is people get comfortable with certain lifestyles and don’t excel, but we are shown time and time again it may only take 1 or a couple people to really breakthrough the problems we face as humans in societies specifically
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 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 .
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.
@@DougWH64Wow, 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😅
@@DougWH64are you saying arctic inuits and african savannah tribepeople have the same adaptation?
@@DougWH64 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.
Cutting to the interview at 24:00 had the same excitement level as hearing a story told about a great hero and then hearing their voice from behind you, interrupting to finish the tale.
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!
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
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.
One of the best documentary I ever saw in my life : non only the moving story of a Giant but the way it has been tailored and developed is an outstanding example for everyone
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.
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 🙏
@@SleepyfrNgl.0youve 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!
15:34 i love this guy,he really just went "fine, I'll just do it myself then"
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.
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.
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.
Mr Nakamura story will be worth to become a documentary film. His remarkable tenacity will be a great inspiration and motivation for the viewers.
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 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
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 admire Mr. Nakamura’s determination despite his underfunding and the circumstances he was in. Such a beautiful story thanks for sharing!
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.
As someone who works in semiconductor design: Hats off to the visualizations in this video.
I have never seen such an amazing view of how semiconductors and their band gaps work.
Not only is this story fascinating, it is an actual learning resource. Kudos!
How does he even make them
Lmao like tons of semiconductor people saying this
@@GrodharHe spent a long time studying how to make videos. Videography.
He has explained his story in one of his videos.
@@Submersed24 rightfully so!
Very good visualization for laymen. Exceptional actually. But the physics depicted are misleading because electrons never pass through the band gap. They can't or they would be observed in this region, which they never are. This is why and how the band gap is defined. When the molecule is excited an electron will essentially vanish from the lower energy band and another electron will appear in the higher energy band. When the molecule shifts to a lower energy state the opposite happens and the energy is released as a characteristic photon.
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
Derek‘s videos remind us that none of the technological innovations that we have today would be possible without incredibly dedicated scientists.
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!
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
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.
Must have rewatched this whole video 20 times. Still don't fully understand it. But love how it explains it in 'simple terms'
I'll never be this smart but find it fascinating
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)
"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.
Hands down, the best explanation of how semiconductors and p-n junction work. Should be included in every course on semiconductors.
I stopped early to comment because my goodness, the explanation and illustration part of this is outer-worldly if you have ever seen any book illustrations or listened to any e-prof's lectures, few examples notwithstanding. The entire concept of "holes" as this virtual entity, bandgap fun - the whole thing is so obtuse, people deep into the science of it have still such a weird time developing the proper intuition. That was great, and I definitely take recommendations of online material that does as good a job. Always has been this channel's strong suit in my eye, but that one is special and definitely belongs into every single dang curriculum even remotely discussing semiconductors.
How old are you buddy ? Not an offensive comment
dunno, there is really good guide written by Britney Spears on the web
lol, Yeah suddenly also Tailor swift is a math teacher on YouTube. @@albertocanali1786
@@albertocanali1786 that one is also very good, though in my opinion here he presents key concepts succinctly. Ofcourse you can go into details later but the intuition remains the the same.
Man great guy and a hero. He should have been given millions. Thank you for being so nice to him.
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.
@@PritishMishra Ur laptop screen uses Blue led to generate white & other colors too 😊
i look at my keyboard, cycling through the rainbow, my monitor beaming blue light below it. to my left, my pc's power button shines white light - another invention that requires him. my wallpaper? blue as hell.
Science dissemination is a thousand times better when historical and personal contexts are included. Very good job.
This video feels like I've watched a movie - the story is so well constructed, the music is so well chosen, and the amount of scientific explanations per unit of time is simply off the charts. Definitely one of the best videos on your channel.
I completely agree! The explanations, animations and storytelling are top notch, but even the music has the perfect balance. Not excessive, repetitive and loud as the Nolan style copycats (or the real Nolan's choices, lol). No cheesy generic trailer music or happy ukuleles. It enhances the flow of the video instead of being distracting. I really appreciate that. It's great.
@@kevincarlos973 Good addition, I agree
zip it up when you're done 🙏
Yep. I was constantly amazed that the guy was able to push through so much to achieve his goal, and he comes across as such a humble and likable guy. Props to him for going down in history books!
Was intending the be in toilet for 5 minutes. Ended up being in toilet for 30 minutes. Success.
Honestly, after a year of this video being released I still believe this is the best documentary I have seen.
Everything is so well put together and easily understood, plus the story so gripping with the fantastic visuals, it’s insane really.
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.
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
@RavixSomni - 2024-02-10
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
@adamlynch9153 - 2024-02-10
yeah this takes the old saying about edison creating a lightbulb to a new level
@stevendv8487 - 2024-02-10
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.
@michaellavery4899 - 2024-02-10
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.
@michaellavery4899 - 2024-02-10
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.
@markstewart4501 - 2024-02-10
@@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.