Why It Was Almost Impossible to Make the Blue LED

The blue LED was supposed to be impossible—until a young engineer proposed a moonshot idea. Head to https://brilliant.org/veritasium to start your free 30-day trial, and the first 200 people get 20% off an annual premium subscription.

If you’re looking for a molecular modeling kit, try Snatoms, a kit I invented where the atoms snap together magnetically - https://ve42.co/SnatomsV

Huge thanks to the UC Santa Barbara Materials Dept (https://ssleec.ucsb.edu/) for taking us around.
Thanks to Álvaro Bermejillo Seco for reviewing the science.
Thanks to these especially helpful sources:
Nobel Prize Biography - Shuji Nakamura - https://ve42.co/NakamuraNobel
Johnstone, B. (2015). Brilliant!. Prometheus Books. - https://ve42.co/Johnstone2015
Nakamura, S., Pearton, S., & Fasol, G. (2010). The Blue Laser Diode: The Complete Story. Springer. - https://ve42.co/Nakamura2010