Hiroshi Amano (天野 浩, Amano Hiroshi; born September 11, 1960) is a Japanese materials scientist specializing in the field of semiconductor technology. He is a co-inventor of the blue LED, for which he was awarded the 2014 Nobel Prize in Physics along with Isamu Akasaki and Shuji Nakamura.
Early life and education Hiroshi Amano was born on September 11, 1960, in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture, the son of father Tatsuji and mother Yoshiko. During elementary school days, Amano played soccer as a goalkeeper and softball as a catcher. He was also passionate about amateur radio and despite hating studying, he was good at mathematics. Upon entering high school, he began taking his studies seriously and became a top student by studying every day late into the night. In 1979, Amano entered Nagoya University, where he graduated from the School of Engineering in 1983. He then completed a master's course in the Graduate School of Engineering in 1985, and received his D.Eng. in 1989.
Career In 1988, Amano became a research associate in the School of Engineering at Nagoya University. From 1992 to 2010, he was an assistant professor, associate professor, and a professor in the Faculty of Science and Technology at Meijo University. In 2010, Amano returned to Nagoya University, where he is currently a professor in the Graduate School of Engineering. He has been director of the Akasaki Research Center since 2011.
Research
Amano joined Professor Isamu Akasaki's group in 1982 as an undergraduate student. Since then, he has been doing research on the growth, characterization and device applications of group III nitride semiconductors, which are well known as materials used in blue light-emitting diodes today. In 1985, he developed low-temperature deposited buffer layers for the growth of group III nitride semiconductor films on a sapphire substrate, which led to the realization of group-III-nitride semiconductor based light-emitting diodes and laser diodes. In 1989, he succeeded in growing p-type GaN and fabricating a p-n-junction-type GaN-based UV/blue light-emitting diode for the first time in the world. Known to be keen on research, Amano's laboratory was always lit late at night, such as weekdays, holidays, New Year's Day, and was called "no night castle". According to his students in the laboratory, Amano has an optimistic and temperate personality, and is never angry.
Family Amano's wife was a Japanese lecturer at Comenius University in Bratislava, Slovakia.
Recognition
Awards
Memberships
Honorary degrees
Selected publications Amano, H.; Sawaki, N.; Akasaki, I.; Toyoda, Y. (February 3, 1986). "Metalorganic vapor phase epitaxial growth of a high quality GaN film using an AlN buffer layer". Applied Physics Letters. 48 (5). AIP Publishing: 353–355. Bibcode:1986ApPhL..48..353A. doi:10.1063/1.96549. ISSN 0003-6951. Amano, Hiroshi; Akasaki, Isamu; Kozawa, Takahiro; Hiramatsu, Kazumasa; Sawaki, Nobuhiko; Ikeda, Kousuke; Ishii, Yoshikazu (1988). "Electron beam effects on blue luminescence of zinc-doped GaN". Journal of Luminescence. 40–41. Elsevier BV: 121–122. Bibcode:1988JLum...40..121A. doi:10.1016/0022-2313(88)90117-2. ISSN 0022-2313. Amano, Hiroshi; Kito, Masahiro; Hiramatsu, Kazumasa; Akasaki, Isamu (December 20, 1989). "P-Type Conduction in Mg-Doped GaN Treated with Low-Energy Electron Beam Irradiation (LEEBI)". Japanese Journal of Applied Physics. 28 (Part 2, No. 12). Japan Society of Applied Physics: L2112–L2114. Bibcode:1989JaJAP..28L2112A. doi:10.1143/jjap.28.l2112. ISSN 0021-4922. Murakami, Hiroshi; Asahi, Tsunemori; Amano, Hiroshi; Hiramatsu, Kazumasa; Sawaki, Nobuhiko; Akasaki, Isamu (1991). "Growth of Si-doped AlxGa1–xN on (0001) sapphire substrate by metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy". Journal of Crystal Growth. 115 (1–4). Elsevier BV: 648–651. Bibcode:1991JCrGr.115..648M. doi:10.1016/0022-0248(91)90820-u. ISSN 0022-0248. Itoh, Kenji; Kawamoto, Takeshi; Amano, Hiroshi; Hiramatsu, Kazumasa; Akasaki, Isamu (September 15, 1991). "Metalorganic Vapor Phase Epitaxial Growth and Properties of GaN/Al0.1Ga0.9N Layered Structures". Japanese Journal of Applied Physics. 30 (Part 1, No. 9A). Japan Society of Applied Physics: 1924–1927. Bibcode:1991JaJAP..30.1924I. doi:10.1143/jjap.30.1924. ISSN 0021-4922. S2CID 123428785. I. Akasaki, H. Amano, K. Itoh, N. Koide & K. Manabe, Int. Phys. Conf. Ser. 129, 851 (1992). Akasaki, Isamu; Amano, Hiroshi; Sota, Shigetoshi; Sakai, Hiromitsu; Tanaka, Toshiyuki; Koike, Masayoshi (November 1, 1995). "Stimulated Emission by Current Injection from an AlGaN/GaN/GaInN Quantum Well Device". Japanese Journal of Applied Physics. 34 (11B) L1517. Japan Society of Applied Physics. doi:10.7567/jjap.34.l1517. ISSN 0021-4922. S2CID 122963134.
See also List of Japanese Nobel laureates
Notes
References
External links Hiroshi Amano on Nobelprize.org



