1. Congratulations on Winning the Nobel Prize in Physics 2014! In the spirit of Alfred Nobel the Prize rewards an invention of greatest benefit to mankind, the Nobel Prize in Physics 2014 is awarded to three Japanese scientists “for the invention of efficient blue light- emitting diodes which has enabled bright and energy-saving white light sources.” “The LED lamp holds great promise for increasing the quality of life for over 1.5 billion people around the world who lack access to electricity grids.” (The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences)

2. Nobel Laureates in Physics 2014 Isamu AKASAKI, Meijo University and Nagoya University, Japan Hiroshi AMANO, Nagoya University, Japan Shuji NAKAMURA, University of California, Santa Barbara, USA Dr. Akasaki worked to elaborate the growth technology for high-quality gallium nitride (GaN) single crystals. Dr. Amano successfully grew the single-crystalline GaN films and realized for the first time p-type conductivity in GaN semiconductors by Mg-doping. Dr. Nakamura established the manufacturing technologies for GaN-based light emitting devices, leading to the rapid realization of bright white light sources. All of these achievements have propelled the GaN-based light-emitting diodes into practical use, attracting a number of researchers and industries into this field and finding practical applications to a wide variety of fields.

3. 1979 Selection of the MOVPE method for creating a single crystal of GaN History : Research and Development of Blue LED 1985 Creation of a high quality single crystal of GaN 1987-1990 “Manufacturing Technology for GaN-based Blue Light - Emitting Diodes” Project JST’s funding program: Contract Development Type / A-STEP 1989 Discovery of p-type conductivity in GaN semiconductors and realization of blue LEDs 1993-2000 “Manufacturing Technology of GaN Short Wave Semiconductor Laser” Project JST’s funding program: Contract Development Type / A-STEP 1993 Commercialization of blue LED at Nichia Corporation 1996 Launching of commercial white LED 2001-2006 “NAKAMURA Inhomogeneous Crystal Project” JST’s funding program: ERATO 2007-2010 “Manufacturing Technology of LEDs with a Moth-eye Structure” Project JST’s funding program: Contract Development Type / A-STEP Right - Dr. Hiroshi Amano, Professor of Nagoya University; Nobel Laureate in Physics 2014 Left - Dr. Michiharu Nakamura, President of JST (October 22 nd, 2014) Akasaki Akasaki & Amano Akasaki Akasaki & Amano Nakamura Amano

4. Column: The Legendary Authority on Emerging Technologies Mr. Akio Ishida, a staff member at JST, clearly remembers when he visited Prof. Akasaki’s laboratory on November 2 nd, 1985 and saw a picture of a beautiful transparent crystal of gallium nitride. “That was something very special. I felt it in my bones,” he says. Ishida started persuading Prof. Akasaki to seek out practical applications of his research achievement by using JST’s funding program which is now called “A-STEP.” Since Prof. Akasaki was a devoted academic researcher, he said “No. I can’t afford it.” to Ishida several times. However, Ishida would not take no for an answer. A month later, Prof. Akasaki finally said, “There is one company named Toyota Gosei Co. Ltd., which is very much interested in my research result. Could you talk to them?” That was the moment that Ishida’s intuition, judgment and persistence opened the door to practical applications of GaN blue LEDs. To find a diamond in the rough, such as getting a lead on recently-discovered technology, and to connect such leads to private companies and national funding programs requires the skill of an artisan. It requires a lot of effort of exploring numerous academic papers and presentations and visiting many laboratories across Japan as well as constantly cultivating your own expertise. Now, almost 30 years after that fateful moment in Prof. Akasaki’s laboratory, Ishida still continues to devote himself to finding a better way to discover more groundbreaking research that could benefit society. He is widely called a legendary authority of emerging technologies, inside and outside of JST.

5. Prof. Akasaki and Toyoda Gosei’s JST-funded project ‘Manufacturing Technology for GaN-based Blue Light-Emitting Diodes” was a great success and led to commercial applications by Toyoda Gosei Co. Ltd. in 1995. JST supported the company with 550 million yen; however, the company successfully paid back in full. Moreover, since some portion of their patent license belonged to JST as part of the nation’s rules for the intellectual properties of nationally funded programs at that time, the patent licensing fees of this project brought in around 5.6 billion yen in revenue for the nation by 2013. “Manufacturing Technology for GaN-based Blue Light - Emitting Diodes” Project (1987-1990) (Contract Development Type / A-STEP) The Story of Blue LEDs Research: The Life Discoveries of Isamu Akasaki [Video: 16 min.] http://sciencechannel.jst.go.jp/D040506/detail/Q040506001.html

6. What is the “Contract Development Type” of A-STEP? ☞ The “Contract Development Type” of A-STEP is one of JST’s funding programs designed for private companies that will take on the challenge of carrying out the practical application of academic research despite the high risk of R&D. ☞ It is like an interest-free loan of up to 20 million USD over a maximum of 7 years. ☞ Successful companies have a repayment obligation if they succeed in achieving a technological goal that they and JST have set together in advance. In addition, they also have an obligation to pay to JST some portion of their sales resulting from the R&D supported by JST. ☞ If they fail to achieve the pre-set goal, they only need to repay 10% of the total R&D cost that JST provided and 90% is exempt from repayment. Remarkable Achievements of JST’s Contract Development Projects since 1958 to 2008 http://www.jst.go.jp/itaku/result50then.pdf