The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) hosted the last round of its Distinguished Speakers Series today - a talk series launched over a year ago to celebrate the University’s 25th anniversary. Prof Hiroshi Amano, a renowned physicist and engineer in semiconductor technology, marked the 9th Nobel laureate and the 27th who spoke for the series hosted by corporate leaders, entrepreneurs and key financial policy shapers around the world.
Prof Amano won Nobel Prize in Physics in 2014 with two others for the invention of efficient blue light-emitting diodes (LEDs) which has enabled bright and energy-saving white light sources. In his talk “Lighting the Earth with LEDs”, Prof Amano talked about how gallium nitride (GaN) – a binary III/V direct bandgap semiconductor used in LED since 1990s, has revolutionized electronic gadgets by allowing full-color display for smart phones and portable games, help cut power consumption as well as offering a simple and low-cost solution to water sterilization. He also shed lights on possible new applications of group III semiconductors and their contribution to establishing a sustainable society.
Prof Amano, Director of Center for Integrated Research of Future Electronics and Professor at Nagoya University’s Institute of Materials and Systems for Sustainability, first developed low-temperature deposited buffer layers in 1985 which provided technology vendors high-quality group III semiconductor-based LEDs and laser diodes (LDs). In 1989, he succeeded in growing p-type GaN and fabricating p-n junction LEDs for the first time in the world. He is a foreign member of National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and a fellow of both Japan Society of Applied Physics and Institute of Physics (IOP). He has published over 529 papers, contributed to 27 books and received numerous awards including Optoelectronics Conference Special Award in 1994 and Institute of Electrical and Electronics (IEEE) Lasers and Electro-Optics Society (LES) Engineering Achievement Award in 1996.
The Distinguished Speakers Series is part of HKUST’s 25th anniversary celebration program to highlight the University’s mission in advancing learning and knowledge. Over 7,000 students, faculty members and guests attended the events, for more details please go to https://25a.hkust.edu.hk/eng/index.php.
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