| Shuji Nakamura |
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After I developed the GaP material, I went out to sell it. I did all the work - research and development, manufacturing, quality control and sales - because our company was a chemical company and so there was nobody who understood even the basics of semiconductors and who could explain and sell the material. Therefore I had to go out and do the selling by myself. I visited companies countless times, and I asked the people at those companies to buy the GaPc and they agreed to examine the product. After they examined the characteristics of the product, they said that the characteristics like those of other manufacturers and so they asked what were the merits of buying Nichia's product, and also about things like the management of quality control. Since I was doing everything myself I was not so confident about everything. I was even asked to reduce the price of the devices down to one half! The result was that I could not sell more than one million yen's worth per month.
In the course of time I was asked to do development work on gallium arsenide (GaAs). GaAs can be produced using a similar method to GaP, and I developed it by myself within 3 years. This GaAs is the material which is used for red and infrared LEDs - so once again there was a connection with LEDs! I developed the GaAs crystals over 3 years and then I went out selling again. This too would not sell for the same reason as before. Next I developed the epitaxial growth of gallium aluminum arsenide (GaAlAs) and this time I went as far as developing practical infrared and red LEDs, which I was asked to develop by the sales people who had customers requirements. I manufactured the above LEDs using a furnace that I built myself, as there were no funds available to buy one. In 4 years, I succeeded in developing infrared and red LEDs. However, these devices could not sell more than 1 or 2 million yen.
All in all, in the period of 10 years from entering my previous company (Nichia), I made all of the manufacturing line - from raw material to device manufacturing. However these devices could not sell more than 1 or 2 million yen. As I built everything during the 10 year period, I became highly acquainted with the LED technologies.
Unfortunately, the devices which were developed did not sell well, and so the company spoke badly of me. I was seen as a freeloader. Through my research, the profits that the company earned from fluorescent materials were being poured down the drain. So the top brass, who had served a long time, spoke badly of me. During the first 5 or 6 years after I entered the company, they would say things like "You are going to bring the company down" "When are you going to make something that sells?" After 10 years had passed they asked me to abandon such developments and at that time I felt that it was impossible to stay in the company. Of all the experienced people in the development department, only I was left. There had been several people in the department in the past, but they were transferred to the fluorescent division because the LEDs were not selling well. I was left in the department and everyone blamed me for the poor results. So I felt hard done by and ended up thinking that I wouldn't even care if they sacked me.
Whilst I had been developing LEDs during those 10 years, I had always had a desire to try and develop a blue LED. I proposed again and again to my boss that we attempt the development of the blue LED, but he said that it was impossible to perform such development in this small, rural company because of the lack of money, researchers, expertise, and so on. That was actually the truth and I also thought that it was impossible to develop blue LED. So although I had wanted to try for the previous 10 years, I held back. However after completing my 10th year, I was urged to quit the company and so I blew a fuse. I decided to propose the development of blue LED, which I wanted to develop, and if it was impossible then I would resign the company.
As I thought that if I proposed the development plan to my boss, it would go nowhere. So I appealed directly to the company founder - this kind of action was possible in such a small-scale venture enterprise and this was a merit of the company. I thought that even the founder would not permit the proposal, but I was ready to quit anyway if I was refused, so it was worth a try. The founder's name was Mr. Nobuo Ogawa - he was the president at the time, but he died this year. I asked him to let me develop a blue LED, and he just said "OK." I thought he was either lying or that he thought he wouldn't need to spend any money on it. So I stuck my neck out and said "We need a budget of several hundred million yen in order to complete the development of blue LED." He replied "OK." Moreover, I asked him to permit me to study abroad at Florida University for one year. Againc "OK." Everything was OK in just 5 seconds - it was that easy.
I got permission from the founder, but the executive director and those below him were vehemently opposed to the plans. When they met with me, they immediately said "What are you doing this time? You're going to pour more money down the drain." However, I had got permission from the president, so I began the development of the blue LED. I went abroad to Florida University where I wanted to study MOCVD, and on my return I started practically the research of blue LEDs.
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