Hard disk pioneers win physics Nobel

By Niklas Pollard

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - France's Albert Fert and Germany's Peter Gruenberg won the 2007 Nobel Prize for physics on Tuesday for a breakthrough in nanotechnology that lets huge amounts of data be squeezed into ever-smaller spaces.

Gadgets from powerful laptops to iPods owe their existence to the discovery.

The 10-million Swedish crown ($1.54 million) prize, awarded by The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, recognized the pair for revealing a physical effect called giant magnetoresistance.

"It is thanks to this technology that it has been possible to miniaturize hard disks so radically in recent years," the academy said in a statement.

Giant magnetoresistance -- GMR for short -- works through a large electrical response to a tiny magnetic input.

When atoms are laid down on a hard disk in ultra-thin layers, they interact differently than when spread out more. This makes it possible to pack more data on disks.

Surrounded by journalists in Paris soon after learning of his award, the 69-year-old Fert started chatting with some youngsters near the CNRS research centre he co-founded.

"You like physics?" he asked, telling them he had just won the Nobel prize. "If you are able to listen to music on your MP3 player, it is a bit thanks to what I've done."