Charles Kao, who is often referred as father of fiber-optic communications for his work in the 1960s fiber optics has won a share of this year’s Nobel Prize in Physics. Kao’s discovered in 1966 how to transmit light over long distances using ultrapure optical glass fibers, which enabled such transmissions to reach 62 miles vs. the mere 65 under the previous technologies hampered by impurities. The first ultrapure fiber was produced in 1970.

Kao, was formally honored by the Nobel Foundation in Stockholm, Sweden "for groundbreaking achievements concerning the transmission of light in fibers for optical communication. Kao shares the award with Willard Boyle and George Smith, who invented imaging technology using a digital sensor dubbed a CCD (Charge-Coupled Device). The good old boys from Bell Labs brought us many breakthroughs, like the transistor, the laser, and more.

Coppers Last Stand?

The CCD is the basis for the technology in digital photography. Digital cameras have crushed the film based photography business. Many experts predict that the fiber-optic cabling is already on the way to giving the same devastating fate for copper-based communications cabling.

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