2026 Shuji Nakamura: Materials Science Researcher – H-Index, Publications & Awards

Discipline name	D-Index	World Ranking	Current World Ranking	National Ranking	Current National Ranking	Publications	Citations
Materials Science	142	217	210	88	83	1047	89191

Research.com Recognitions

2026 - Research.com Materials Science in United States Leader Award
2025 - Research.com Materials Science in United States Leader Award
2019 - Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering (UK)
2017 - Polish Academy of Science
2014 - Nobel Prize for the invention of efficient blue light-emitting diodes which has enabled bright and energy-saving white light sources
2014 - Fellow, National Academy of Inventors
2003 - Member of the National Academy of Engineering For contributions to optoelectronic engineering of gallium-nitride materials, culminating in the development of violet/blue lasers and light-emitting diodes.
2002 - Benjamin Franklin Medal, Franklin Institute
1997 - MRS Medal, Materials Research Society For the development of lattice-mismatched GaN-based heteroepitaxy and its application to the creation of blue and green light-emitting diodes and short wavelength laser diodes
1996 - Nishina Memorial Prize

Overview

Shuji Nakamura is affiliated with the University of California, Santa Barbara in the United States. The research focus centers on semiconductor devices, particularly gallium-nitride (GaN) based technologies.

The scientist has contributed extensively to several fields of study, including:

Physics and Astronomy
Engineering
Materials Science

Key subfields within these areas include:

Condensed Matter Physics
Electrical and Electronic Engineering
Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics
Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
Materials Chemistry

The main research topics address technical and material aspects of semiconductors, such as:

GaN-based semiconductor devices and materials
Semiconductor Quantum Structures and Devices
Ga2O3 and related materials
ZnO doping and properties
Semiconductor materials and devices
Metal and Thin Film Mechanics
Photocathodes and Microchannel Plates

Shuji Nakamura has published research in a variety of notable venues, with a frequency of publications as follows:

Applied Physics Letters (38 publications)
Optics Express (22 publications)
Applied Physics Express (12 publications)
Crystals (10 publications)
Semiconductor Science and Technology (7 publications)

Frequent co-authors in collaborations include:

Steven P. DenBaars
James S. Speck
Matthew S. Wong
Hongjian Li
Panpan Li

Selected recent papers authored or co-authored by Shuji Nakamura include:

Comparison of size-dependent characteristics of blue and green InGaN microLEDs down to 1 μ m in diameter, 2020, Applied Physics Letters
Revealing the importance of light extraction efficiency in InGaN/GaN microLEDs via chemical treatment and dielectric passivation, 2020, Applied Physics Letters
Improved performance of AlGaInP red micro-light-emitting diodes with sidewall treatments, 2020, Optics Express
Demonstration of ultra-small (<10 μm) 632 nm red InGaN micro-LEDs with useful on-wafer external quantum efficiency (>0.2%) for mini-displays, 2020, Applied Physics Express
Unidirectional luminescence from InGaN/GaN quantum-well metasurfaces, 2020, Nature Photonics

In the domain of book publications, there is one record of a forthcoming title published by Springer International Publishing:

Gallium Nitride and Related Materials, expected in 2025

Numerous awards and honors have been bestowed, including:

Nobel Prize (2014) for the invention of efficient blue light-emitting diodes which has enabled bright and energy-saving white light sources
Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering (UK), 2019
Polish Academy of Science, 2017
Fellow, National Academy of Inventors, 2014
Member of the National Academy of Engineering, 2003, for contributions to optoelectronic engineering of gallium-nitride materials
Benjamin Franklin Medal, Franklin Institute, 2002
MRS Medal, Materials Research Society, 1997, for development of lattice-mismatched GaN-based heteroepitaxy
Nishina Memorial Prize, 1996

Best Publications

Candela‐class high‐brightness InGaN/AlGaN double‐heterostructure blue‐light‐emitting diodes

Shuji Nakamura;Takashi Mukai;Masayuki Senoh

5669
Citations
InGaN-Based Multi-Quantum-Well-Structure Laser Diodes.

Shuji Nakamura;Masayuki Senoh;Shin–ichi Nagahama;Naruhito Iwasa

3223
Citations
Prospects for LED lighting

Siddha Pimputkar;James S. Speck;Steven P. DenBaars;Shuji Nakamura

2453
Citations
High-brightness InGaN blue, green and yellow light-emitting diodes with quantum well structures

Shuji Nakamura;Masayuki Senoh;Naruhito Iwasa;Shin–ichi Nagahama

2086
Citations
Increase in the extraction efficiency of GaN-based light-emitting diodes via surface roughening

T. Fujii;Y. Gao;R. Sharma;E. L. Hu

1773
Citations
Spontaneous emission of localized excitons in InGaN single and multiquantum well structures

S. Chichibu;T. Azuhata;T. Sota;S. Nakamura

1664
Citations
Superbright Green InGaN Single-Quantum-Well-Structure Light-Emitting Diodes

Shuji Nakamura;Masayuki Senoh;Naruhito Iwasa;Shin–ichi Nagahama

1588
Citations
Hole Compensation Mechanism of P-Type GaN Films

Shuji Nakamura;Naruhito Iwasa;Masayuki Senoh;Takashi Mukai

1506
Citations
Thermal Annealing Effects on P-Type Mg-Doped GaN Films

Shuji Nakamura;Takashi Mukai;Masayuki Senoh;Naruhito Iwasa

1420
Citations
Role of self-formed InGaN quantum dots for exciton localization in the purple laser diode emitting at 420 nm

Yukio Narukawa;Yoichi Kawakami;Mitsuru Funato;Shizuo Fujita

1261
Citations
InGaN/GaN/AlGaN-based laser diodes with modulation-doped strained-layer superlattices grown on an epitaxially laterally overgrown GaN substrate

Shuji Nakamura;Masayuki Senoh;Shin-ichi Nagahama;Naruhito Iwasa

1222
Citations
Characteristics of InGaN-Based UV/Blue/Green/Amber/Red Light-Emitting Diodes

Takashi Mukai;Motokazu Yamada;Shuji Nakamura

1053
Citations
High-power GaN P-N junction blue-light-emitting diodes

Shuji Nakamura;Takashi Mukai;Masayuki Senoh

1042
Citations
High‐power InGaN/GaN double‐heterostructure violet light emitting diodes

Shuji Nakamura;Masayuki Senoh;Takashi Mukai

957
Citations
High‐power InGaN single‐quantum‐well‐structure blue and violet light‐emitting diodes

Shuji Nakamura;Masayuki Senoh;Naruhito Iwasa;Shin‐ichi Nagahama

891
Citations
Strain-induced polarization in wurtzite III-nitride semipolar layers

A. E. Romanov;T. J. Baker;S. Nakamura;J. S. Speck

876
Citations
Origin of defect-insensitive emission probability in In-containing (Al,In,Ga)N alloy semiconductors.

Shigefusa F. Chichibu;Akira Uedono;Akira Uedono;Takeyoshi Onuma;Benjamin A. Haskell

850
Citations
P-GaN/N-InGaN/N-GaN Double-Heterostructure Blue-Light-Emitting Diodes

Shuji Nakamura;Masayuki Senoh;Takashi Mukai

819
Citations
Room‐temperature continuous‐wave operation of InGaN multi‐quantum‐well structure laser diodes

Shuji Nakamura;Masayuki Senoh;Shin‐ichi Nagahama;Naruhito Iwasa

750
Citations
Introduction to Nitride Semiconductor Blue Lasers and Light Emitting Diodes

Shuji Nakamura;Shigefusa F. Chichibu

745
Citations
High‐brightness InGaN/AlGaN double‐heterostructure blue‐green‐light‐emitting diodes

Shuji Nakamura;Takashi Mukai;Masayuki Senoh

626
Citations
InGaN/GaN/AlGaN-Based Laser Diodes with Modulation-Doped Strained-Layer Superlattices

Shuji Nakamura;Masayuki Senoh;Shin-ichi Nagahama;Naruhito Iwasa

610
Citations