one of the hottest races in the fiercely competitive world of microelectronics has been for the development of bright blue and green light-emitting diodes ( led ) and laser diodes. Most of the big electronics companies in the world, including rca and Sony have been involved in the research for a commercially viable blue led . But ironically, they have all been beaten to the post by a small Japanese company, Nichia Chemical Industries, which has developed commercial blue led s using gallium nitride ( gan ). For almost 25 years now, researchers are looking at various materials which are suitable for blue and green semiconductor diodes. The applications are wide ranging