The first ever practical visible spectrum (red) LED was developed by Dr Nick Holonyak Jr. He
was developing an unusual material, gallium arsenide phosphide as a route to wide band gap tunnel
diodes. When an infra-red gallium arsenide semiconductor laser was showcased in 1962, Holonyak
with his wider bandwidth gallium arsenide phosphide was in the ideal position to have a go at
making a visible version. He first reported this breakthrough in the journal Applied Physics Letters
on the 1st of December, 1962. Holonyak is called the “father of the light-emitting diode.” He holds
about 41 patents and his other inventions include the first light dimmer and the laser diode.