The Takeda Award Message from Chairman Awardees Achievement Fact Awards Ceremony Forum 2001
2002

Awardees

Social/Economic Well-Being
Isamu Akasaki
Hiroshi Amano
Shuji Nakamura


Individual/Humanity Well-Being
Stephen P. A. Fodor
Patrick O. Brown


World Environmental Well-Being
Charles Elachi
Nobuyoshi Fugono
Ken'ichi Okamoto




I am extremely honored to accept Takeda Award. Firstly I would like to show my great respect for Dr. Ikuo Takeda, chairman of The Takeda Foundation, who used his own funds to set up the Takeda Award, which is given to people devoted to the creation of engineering intellect and knowledge that creates richness and happiness. Secondly I give my warmest thanks to the people who nominated us for the Award, to Dr. Yasuo Tarui, chairman of selection committee, and the members of selection committee, and to the officials of the Foundation.

In the late 1960s, whilst most of the researchers trying to develop blue light emitting devices (LED) using gallium nitride (GaN) were abandoning their research, I set myself the aim of the realization of the blue LED of GaN-based semiconductor pn junction. My experiences led me to select Metal Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition (MOCVD) as the method of crystal growth in 1979 and after that I transferred to Nagoya University. There I was able to accomplish many breakthroughs including the success of getting high quality crystal, the success of conductivity control and finally the realization of a pn junction blue LED. These breakthroughs were done with the collaboration of Dr Hiroshi Amano, my co-recipient today, and many excellent collaborative researchers.

GaN-based semiconductors are environmentally friendly and are ideally suited for the realization of the next generation of high performance optical and electric devices. Encouraged by this award, I will make even more effort in realizing such new devices. Today I am the recipient of this fine award, but it is really the result of the collaboration of a great many people. I deeply appreciate my fellow professors at Nagoya University and Meijo University, who arranged a research environment where I could devote myself to my research to my hearts content; and also the many excellent collaborative researchers and the many students who graduated from my research laboratory. Again, I appreciate my colleagues of Matsushita Electric Industry Co. Ltd., who collaborated with me, even though it was only I who was working on GaN at that early stage, and created a situation where I could confirm the potential of GaN. Without all these people I could not have received today's award, and so once again I give my thanks to all of my research collaborators. Finally I would like to wish for the good health of Dr. Takeda, and for great progress of The Takeda Foundation. Thank you very much.

Awards Ceremony

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