Shedding light on why blue LEDs are so tricky to make

Scientists at University College London, in collaboration with groups at the University of Bath and the Daresbury Laboratory, have uncovered the mystery of why blue light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are so difficult to make, by revealing the complex properties of their main component - gallium nitride - using sophisticated computer simulations. Blue LEDs were first commercialised two decades ago and have been instrumental in the development of new forms of energy saving lighting, earning their inventors the 2014 Nobel Prize in Physics. Light emitting diodes are made of two layers of semiconducting materials (insulating materials which can be made conduct electricity in special circumstances).