The Nobel Prize in Physics 2009

Charles Kuen Kao

© The Nobel Foundation. Photo: U. Montan

Prize share: 1/2

Willard S. Boyle

© The Nobel Foundation. Photo: U. Montan

Prize share: 1/4

George E. Smith

© The Nobel Foundation. Photo: U. Montan

Prize share: 1/4

The Nobel Prize in Physics 2009 was divided, one half awarded to Charles Kuen Kao "for groundbreaking achievements concerning the transmission of light in fibers for optical communication", the other half jointly to Willard S. Boyle and George E. Smith "for the invention of an imaging semiconductor circuit - the CCD sensor"

To cite this section
MLA style: The Nobel Prize in Physics 2009. NobelPrize.org. Nobel Prize Outreach AB 2023. Fri. 24 Mar 2023. <https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/2009/summary/>

Back to top Back To Top Takes users back to the top of the page

Nobel Prizes and laureates

Nobel Prizes 2022

Fourteen laureates were awarded a Nobel Prize in 2022, for achievements that have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind. Their work and discoveries range from paleogenomics and click chemistry to documenting war crimes.

See them all presented here.
Nobel Prizes 2022

Explore prizes and laureates

Look for popular awards and laureates in different fields, and discover the history of the Nobel Prize.