LEDs for lighting: Basic physics and prospects for energy savings

In 2014, Isamu Akasaki, Hiroshi Amano, and Shuji Nakamura received the Nobel Prize in Physics for "the invention of efficient blue light-emitting diodes which has enabled bright and energy-saving white light sources". Indeed, in the recent years, Light-Emitting Diodes (LEDs) have progressively made their way to the home lighting market, as well as to other mass markets. This article aims at giving an insight on LEDs physics, on the key inventions that led to the 2014 Nobel Prize and on the prospects for energy savings that LEDs could allow. (C) 2017 Academie des sciences. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.