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Nichia Kagaku Kōgyō Kabushiki-gaisha is a Japanese chemical engineering and manufacturing company headquartered in Anan, Japan with global subsidiaries. It specializes in the manufacturing and distribution of phosphors, including light-emitting diodes (LEDs), laser diodes, battery materials, and calcium chloride. 2014 Nobel Prize in Physics recipient Shuji Nakamura did research while working at Nichia on gallium nitride light-emitting diodes, leading to the invention of blue LEDs.
The Nichia Corporation comprises two divisions — Division 1, responsible for phosphors and other chemicals, and Division 2, responsible for LEDs. In the field of phosphors the company has 50% of the Japanese market and 25% of the world market. (2013). 9783662041567, Springer Science & Business Media. ISBN 9783662041567
Nichia designs, manufactures, and markets LEDs for display, LCD backlighting, automotive and general lighting applications with the many different LEDs across the entire visible spectrum. Nichia’s invention and development of white LEDs have spanned several accomplishments throughout the history of the company.
In 1966, Nichia began production of phosphors for fluorescent lamps. In 1971, Nichia began production of phosphors for color TVs. In 1977, Nichia began the production of tri-color phosphors for fluorescent lamps.
One of Nobuo Ogawa's more well-known decisions was to support Shuji Nakamura to do research on gallium nitride light-emitting diodes, when it was generally considered a very risky business. (2013). 9783662041567, Springer Science & Business Media. ISBN 9783662041567 The research turned out to be a great success; however, the company received scrutiny for the small size of the ¥20,000 (US$180) bonus initially awarded to Nakamura for his 1993 invention of the first high brightness blue-light LED, which was based on gallium nitride. Nichia later settled out of court with Nakamura for ¥840 million (US$7 million), in what was then the highest bonus ever awarded by a Japanese company.
Nichia supports financially a Polish company Ammono, which is the current (as of 2011) world leader in bulk Gallium Nitride (GaN) manufacturing of 5 centimeter diameter high quality bulk c-plane GaN substrates as well as non-polar M-plane, A-plane and semi-polar GaN wafer. Nichia funds a joint research project with Ammono to develop ammonothermal gallium nitride growth, and in return Nichia took a stake in Ammono’s intellectual property, as well as access to the crystals that were made.
Several of Nichia's innovations have won awards, such as the Nikkei Best Products Award.
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