Nobel Prize in Physics 1986

Ernst Ruska

Photo: Marianne Kischke, Fritz Haber Institut der Max Planck Gesellschaft. Nobel Foundation archive.

Prize share: 1/2

Gerd Binnig

Photo from the Nobel Foundation archive.

Prize share: 1/4

Heinrich Rohrer

Photo from the Nobel Foundation archive.

Prize share: 1/4

The Nobel Prize in Physics 1986 was divided, one half awarded to Ernst Ruska "for his fundamental work in electron optics, and for the design of the first electron microscope", the other half jointly to Gerd Binnig and Heinrich Rohrer "for their design of the scanning tunneling microscope"

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MLA style: The Nobel Prize in Physics 1986. NobelPrize.org. Nobel Prize Outreach 2026. Mon. 20 Jul 2026. <https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/1986/summary/>

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