Trio win Nobel prize for laser physics

Canadian Strickland becomes only the third women to win a Nobel prize for physics.

Three researchers on Tuesday shared the Nobel Physics Prize for inventions in the field of laser physics which have paved the way for advanced precision instruments used in industry and medicine, the jury said.

Watch the moment the 2018 #NobelPrize in Physics is announced.

Presented by Göran K. Hansson, Secretary General of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. pic.twitter.com/EukMJmGrGo
- The Nobel Prize (@NobelPrize) October 2, 2018

Arthur Ashkin of the United States won one half of the prize, while Gerard Mourou of France and Donna Strickland of Canada shared the other half.

BREAKING NEWS°The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided to award the #NobelPrize in Physics 2018 "for groundbreaking inventions in the field of laser physics" with one half to Arthur Ashkin and the other half jointly to Gérard Mourou and Donna Strickland. pic.twitter.com/PK08SnUslK
- The Nobel Prize (@NobelPrize) October 2, 2018

American Ashkin of Bell Laboratories in the United States won half of the prize while Frenchman Mourou, who also has US citizenship, and Canadian Strickland shared the other half.

Ultra-sharp laser beams make it possible to cut or drill holes in various materials extremely precisely - even in living matter. Millions of eye operations are performed every year with the sharpest of laser beams.#NobelPrize pic.twitter.com/MiYb4i8AHw
- The Nobel Prize (@NobelPrize) October 2, 2018

Strickland, of the University of Waterloo, Canada, becomes only the third women to win a Nobel prize for physics.

"The inventions being honoured this year have revolutionised laser physics," the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said on awarding the nine million Swedish crown ($1 million) prize.

Science fiction has become a reality. Optical tweezers make it possible to observe, turn, cut, push and pull with light. In many laboratories, laser tweezers are used to study biological processes, such as proteins, molecular motors, DNA or the inner life of cells.#NobelPrize pic.twitter.com/tWK55J4VcP
- The Nobel Prize (@NobelPrize) October 2, 2018

"Advanced precision instruments are opening up unexplored areas of research and a multitude of industrial and medical applications," it said in a statement.

Gérard Mourou and Donna Strickland - this year's #NobelPrize recipients - paved the way towards the shortest and most intense laser pulses created by humankind. The technique they developed opened up new areas of research and led to broad industrial and medical applications. pic.twitter.com/KQYcbmW0tl
- The Nobel Prize (@NobelPrize) October 2, 2018

Ashkin invented optical "tweezers" that could grab particles, atoms, viruses and other living cells while Mourou and Strickland separately created the shortest and most powerful laser pulses ever.

Arthur Ashkin, awarded the 2018 #NobelPrize, had a dream: imagine if beams of light could be put to work and made to move objects. He realised his dream by creating a light trap, which became known as optical tweezers. pic.twitter.com/6W6juINq5f
- The Nobel Prize (@NobelPrize) October 2, 2018