James Franck and Gustav Hertz (Germany), for discovery of laws governing impact of electrons upon atoms
1926
Jean B. Perrin (France), for work on discontinuous structure of matter and discovery of the equilibrium of sedimentation
1927
Arthur H. Compton (U.S.), for discovery of Compton phenomenon; and Charles T. R. Wilson (U.K.), for method of perceiving paths taken by electrically charged particles
1928
In 1929, the 1928 prize was awarded to Sir Owen Richardson (U.K.), for work on the phenomenon of thermionics and discovery of the Richardson Law
Tsung Dao Lee and Chen Ning Yang (China), for disproving principle of conservation of parity
1958
Pavel A. Cherenkov, Ilya M. Frank, and Igor E. Tamm (all U.S.S.R.), for work resulting in development of cosmic-ray counter
1959
Emilio Segre and Owen Chamberlain (both U.S.), for demonstrating the existence of the anti-proton
1960
Donald A. Glaser (U.S.), for invention of “bubble chamber” to study subatomic particles
1961
Robert Hofstadter (U.S.), for determination of shape and size of atomic nucleus; Rudolf Mössbauer (Germany), for method of producing and measuring recoil-free gamma rays
1962
Lev D. Landau (U.S.S.R.), for his theories about condensed matter
1963
Eugene Paul Wigner, Maria Goeppert Mayer (both U.S.), and J. Hans D. Jensen (Germany), for research on structure of atom and its nucleus
1964
Charles Hard Townes (U.S.), Nikolai G. Basov, and Aleksandr M. Prochorov (both U.S.S.R.), for developing maser and laser principle of producing high-intensity radiation
1965
Richard P. Feynman, Julian S. Schwinger (both U.S.), and Shinichiro Tomonaga (Japan), for research in quantum electrodynamics
1966
Alfred Kastler (France), for work on energy levels inside atom
1967
Hans A. Bethe (U.S.), for work on energy production of stars
Hannes Alfvén (Sweden), for theories in plasma physics; and Louis Néel (France), for discoveries in antiferromagnetism and ferromagnetism
1971
Dennis Gabor (U.K.), for invention of holographic method of three-dimensional imagery
1972
John Bardeen, Leon N. Cooper, and John Robert Schrieffer (all U.S.), for theory of superconductivity, where electrical resistance in certain metals vanishes above absolute zero temperature
1973
Ivar Giaever (U.S.), Leo Esaki (Japan), and Brian D. Josephson (U.K.), for theories that have advanced and expanded the field of miniature electronics
1974
Antony Hewish (U.K.), for discovery of pulsars; Martin Ryle (U.K.), for using radiotelescopes to probe outer space with high degree of precision
Steven Weinberg, Sheldon L. Glashow (both U.S.), and Abdus Salam (Pakistan), for developing theory that electromagnetism and the “weak” force, which causes radioactive decay in some atomic nuclei, are facets of the same phenomenon
Carlo Rubbia (Italy) and Simon van der Meer (Netherlands), for their role in discovering three subatomic particles, a step toward developing a single theory to account for all natural forces
1985
Klaus von Klitzing (Germany), for developing an exact way of measuring electrical conductivity
Leon M. Lederman, Melvin Schwartz, and Jack Steinberger (all U.S.), for research that improved the understanding of elementary particles and forces
1989
Norman F. Ramsey (U.S.), for work leading to development of the atomic clock, and Hans G. Dehmelt (U.S.) and Wolfgang Paul (Germany), for developing methods to isolate atoms and subatomic particles
Pierre-Gilles de Gennes (France), for his discoveries about the ordering of molecules in substances ranging from “super” glue to an exotic form of liquid helium
1992
George Charpak (France), for his inventions of particle detectors
1993
Joseph H. Taylor and Russell A. Hulse (both U.S.), for their discovery of a binary pulsar
1994
Clifford G. Shull (U.S.) and Bertram N. Brockhouse (Canada), for adapting beams of neutrons as probes to explore the atomic structure of matter
1995
Martin L. Perl and Frederick Reines (both U.S.), for their discoveries of “two of nature's most remarkable subatomic particles”—the tau and the neutrino
1996
David M. Lee, Robert C. Richardson, and Douglas D. Osheroff (all U.S.), for their discovery of superfluity in helium-3
1997
Steven Chu, William D. Phillips (both U.S.), and Claude Cohen-Tannoudji (France), for developing a method to cool and trap atoms using light from lasers
1998
Robert B. Laughlin (U.S.), Horst L. Störmer (Germany), and Daniel C. Tsui (U.S.), for their discovery of a new form of quantum fluid with fractionally charged excitations
1999
Gerardys 't Hooft (Netherlands) and Martinus J. G. Veltman (Netherlands), for their theory concerning the production of the Sun's energy
2000
Zhores I. Alferov (Russia) and Herbert Kroemer (U.S.) and Jack S. Kilby (U.S.) for work in development of transistors and microchip technology
2001
Wolfgang Ketterle (Germany), Eric A. Cornell, and Carl E. Wieman (both U.S.) for discovering Bose-Einstein condensate, a new state of matter
2002
Raymond Davis, Jr. (U.S.) and Masatoshi Koshiba (Japan) for the detection of cosmic neutrinos, and Riccardo Giacconi (U.S.) for contributions which have led to the discovery of cosmic X-ray sources.
2003
Alexei A. Abrikosov (Russia, U.S.), Anthony J. Leggett (UK, U.S.), and Vitaly L. Ginzburg (Russia), for theories about superconductivity
2004
David J. Gross, H. David Politzer, and Frank Wilczek (all U.S.) “for the discovery of asymptotic freedom in the theory of the strong interaction.”
2005
Roy J. Glauber and John L. Hall (both U.S.) and Theodor W. Hänsch (Germany)
2006
John C. Mather and George F. Smoot (both U.S.) for “their discovery of the blackbody form and anisotropy of the cosmic microwave background radiation”
2007
Albert Fert (France) and Peter Grünberg (Germany) for "the discovery of Giant Magnetoresistance," the technology used to read data on hard disks
