STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN: A pioneer in fibre-optics and two scientists who figured out how to turn light into electronic signals -- work that paved the way for the Internet age -- were awarded the 2009 Nobel Prize for physics on Tuesday.

Charles Kao, a Shanghai-born British-American, won half the prize for research that led to a breakthrough in fibre-optics, determining how to transmit light over long distances via optical glass fibres.

Willard Boyle, a Canadian-American, and George Smith of the United States shared the other half for inventing the first successful imaging technology using a digital sensor.

"This year's Nobel prize in physics is awarded for two scientic achievements that have helped to shape the foundations of today's networked societies," the award-winning committee said in a statement.

"They have created many practical innovations for everyday life and provided new tools for scientific exploration."

Ultrapure communication

Kao's work formed the basis for the production of the first "ultrapure" fibre only four years later, setting the stage for the communication society of today.

"These low-gloss glass fibres facilitate global broadband communication such as the Internet," the committee said.

"Text, music, images and video can be transferred around in the globe in a split second."

A large portion of the traffic is made up of digital images, facilitated by a breakthrough by Boyle and Smith in 1969, when they invented the first successful imaging technology using a digital sensor, or charge-coupled device (CCD).

"It revolutionised photography, as light can be captured electronically instead of on film," the committee said.

The prize of 10 million Swedish crowns ($1.4 million), awarded by the Nobel Committee for Physics at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, was the second of this year's Nobel prizes.