of 3 win nobel in physics for digital devices

3 win Nobel in physics for digital devices: Three scientists won the Nobel Prize in physics.

Charles K. Kao, a British and U.S. citizen, won for "groundbreaking achievements concerning the transmission of light in fibers for optical communication."

Willard S. Boyle, a Canadian and U.S. citizen, and George E. Smith, a U.S. citizen, "invented the first successful imaging technology using a digital sensor, a CCD (Charge-Coupled Device)."

Three scientists won the Nobel Prize in physics on Tuesday for two breakthroughs that led to two major underpinnings of the digital age -- fiber optics and digital photography, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said.

Charles K. Kao, a British and U.S. citizen, won for "groundbreaking achievements concerning the transmission of light in fibers for optical communication."

Willard S. Boyle, a Canadian and U.S. citizen, and George E. Smith, a U.S. citizen, "invented the first successful imaging technology using a digital sensor, a CCD (Charge-Coupled Device)."

Kao in 1966 "made a discovery that led to a breakthrough in fiber optics. He carefully calculated how to transmit light over long distances via optical glass fibers," the academy said in a press release.

Today, "optical fibers make up the circulatory system that nourishes our communication society" and "facilitate broadband communication such as the Internet," the academy said.

Boyle and Smith's Charge-Coupled Device -- invented in 1969 -- "is the digital camera's electronic eye" and paved the way for digital photography.