• Question: who invented the first led light bulb

    Asked by jackh13 to Dilwar, Lou, Rachel, Simon, Susan on 12 Nov 2013.
    • Photo: Simon Langley-Evans

      Simon Langley-Evans answered on 12 Nov 2013:

      It was invented by Nick Holonyak of the General Electric Company in the 1960s, but as with most inventions a lot of other people did earlier work that enabled him to develop a technology that worked.

    • Photo: Susan Skelton

      Susan Skelton answered on 13 Nov 2013:

      Hi jackh13!
      The first LED was invented by the American scientist, Nick Holonyak, in 1962.

      This was a really exciting invention as light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are useful for so many things: aeroplane lights, car lights, advertising, and traffic lights.

      The invention of the LED has allowed new video displays and sensors to be developed as we can switch them on and off much more quickly than a light bulb which takes time to heat up and cool down.

      LEDs are even used in the remote controls units of TVs and DVD players!

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