Duo shares Nobel Prize in physics
Duo shares Nobel Prize in physics
MATT MOORE AND KARL RITTER
The Associated Press
October 9, 2007 at 8:34 AM EDT
STOCKHOLM — Two European scientists won the 2007 Nobel Prize in physics on Tuesday for a discovery that lets computers, iPods and other digital devices store reams of data on ever-shrinking hard disks.
France's Albert Fert and German Peter Gruenberg independently discovered a physical effect in 1988 that has led to sensitive tools for reading the information stored on hard disks. That sensitivity lets the electronics industry use smaller and smaller disks.
”The MP3 and iPod industry would not have existed without this discovery,” Borje Johansson, a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences told The Associated Press. ”You would not have an iPod without this effect.”
The two scientists discovered a phenomenon called giant magnetoresistance. In this effect, very weak changes in magnetism generate larger changes in electrical resistance. This is how information stored magnetically on a hard disk can be converted to electrical signals that the computer reads.
German professor Peter Grunberg, right, and France’s Albert Fert shared the Nobel Prize for physics.
Enlarge Image
German professor Peter Grunberg, right, and France’s Albert Fert shared the Nobel Prize for physics.
Smaller disks mean fainter magnetic signals, so the ability to detect them is key to shrinking hard disks.
The first disk-reading device based on the effect was launched in 1997 ”and this soon became the standard technology,” the Nobel committee said.
Phil Schewe, a physicist and spokesman for the American Institute of Physics, said the prize honoured ”a terrific combination of great physics and huge practical application.
”I can hardly think of an application that has a bigger bang than the magnetic-hard-drive industry. Every one of us probably owns three or four or five devices, probably more, that depend on billions of bits of information stored on something the size of a dime.”
Dr. Fert, 69, is the scientific director of the Mixed Unit for Physics at CNRS/Thales in Orsay, France, while Dr. Gruenberg, 68, is a professor at the Institute of Solid State Research in western Germany.
In a telephone conference with the award committee, Dr. Fert said he was very happy to win and to share the 10-million kroner ($1.5-million Canadian) prize with Dr. Gruenberg.
”This is a surprise for me, but I knew that it was possible,” he said. ”I knew I was among the many candidates.”
A former rugby player and now an avid sailboarder, Dr. Fert told France's Inter Radio that he planned to share some of the spoils of his winnings with colleagues.
”As usual when I get prizes, I share a little with my associates and then I will see,” he said. ”I don't know. I think I need new sails for my windsurfers.”
Last year, Americans John C. Mather and George F. Smoot won the physics prize for their work examining the infancy of the universe, studies that have aided the understanding of galaxies and stars and increasing support for the Big Bang theory of the beginning of the universe.
On Monday, two American scientists, Mario Capecchi and Oliver Smithies, and Briton Sir Martin Evans won the 2007 Nobel Prize in medicine for groundbreaking discoveries that led to a powerful technique for manipulating mouse genes.
Prizes for chemistry, literature, peace and economics will be announced through Oct. 15.
The peace award is announced in Oslo, while the other prizes are announced in Stockholm. The prizes were established in the will of Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel.
The Nobel prizes are always presented to the winners on the Dec. 10 anniversary of the death of its creator.
法德科学家获诺贝尔物理学
2007年度诺贝尔物理学奖由一名法国专家和一名德国专家共同获得。
他们是因为巨磁电阻材料方面的发现而获奖的。
他们分别是69岁的法国科学家阿尔贝·费尔和68岁的德国科学家彼得·格林贝格。
他们的发明让人们可以从电脑硬盘上读取数据。
这种技术也让硬盘可以变得越来越小。
电脑技术
两位科学家发明的技术也称为GMR，广泛用于电脑开发方面。
这种技术用于发展敏锐的工具，可以读取电脑硬盘上的数据，包括手提电脑，以至个人小型音乐播放器，以及录像播放装置等。
皇家瑞典科学院在宣布两人获奖的赞词中说，这种技术的使用让读取硬盘上的资料的程序改观。
赞词同时说，两人的发现也可以被认为是真正使用纳米技术方面的其中一项创先河做法。
两人将分享150万美元的奖金。
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