The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences on Tuesday announced that the Nobel Prize in Physics, 2018, will be shared among three scientists, one each from United States of America (USA), Canada and France, for "groundbreaking inventions in the field of laser physics".While one half of the prize money, 9 million Swedish Krona, will go to Arthur Ashkin, the other half will be jointly shared by Gerard Mourou and Donna Strickland.Arthur Ashkin from Bell Laboratories, USA, was lauded for his invention of optical tweezers that grab particles, atoms, viruses and other living cells with their laser beam fingers. This new tool paved the way to use radiation pressure of light to move physical objects.Meanwhile, Gerard Mourou from École Polytechnique, France, and the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA together with Donna Strickland from the University of Waterloo, Canada were appreciated for their method of generating high-intensity, ultra-short optical pulses.Donna Strickland is the third woman
