--- description: There might be more LEDs in your life than you realize. title: Why LED lights won the Nobel Prize image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt36e355b10d3567db/69875f2a3c163911ac44ee07/90609832.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Science](/section/science/) ## Science Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Physics](/tag/physics/) ## Physics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Why LED Lights Won the Nobel Prize  by [Arpita Aneja](/author/arpita-aneja/)  ## Arpita Aneja Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 7, 2014 8:40 PM CUT  Why LEDs won the Nobel Prize Why LEDs won the Nobel PrizeNick Bush/Getty Images/Flickr RF  by [Arpita Aneja](/author/arpita-aneja/)  ## Arpita Aneja Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 7, 2014 8:40 PM CUT You might have heard that researchers, two Japanese and one American, recently won the Nobel Prize for Physics for inventing blue light-emitting diodes (LEDs), but you might not know what LEDs are and why they’re important. With energy-saving light bulbs becoming more commonplace and smartphone use as widespread as ever, there might be more LEDs in your life than you realize. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3479182/why-led-lights-won-the-nobel-prize/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3479182/why-led-lights-won-the-nobel-prize/"},"headline":"Why LED Lights Won the Nobel Prize","datePublished":"2014-10-07T20:40:39.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T10:38:27.516Z","description":"Chances are you're using an LED right now","url":"https://time.com/3479182/why-led-lights-won-the-nobel-prize/","keywords":["Physics","U.S.","Japan","Science topic","nobel prize"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt36e355b10d3567db/69875f2a3c163911ac44ee07/90609832.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Arpita Aneja","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/arpita-aneja/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt36e355b10d3567db/69875f2a3c163911ac44ee07/90609832.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Why LEDs won the Nobel Prize","caption":"Why LEDs won the Nobel Prize","creditText":"Nick Bush/Getty Images/Flickr RF","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/physics/","name":"Physics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3479182/why-led-lights-won-the-nobel-prize/","name":"Why LED Lights Won the Nobel Prize"}}]}] ```