One half was awarded to Askin "for the optical tweezers and their application to biological systems" and the other half to Mourou and Strickland "for their method of generating high-intensity, ultra-short optical pulses".
"The inventions being honored this year have revolutionized laser physics," the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said on awarding the nine million Swedish crown ($1 million) prize.
"Advanced precision instruments are opening up unexplored areas of research and a multitude of industrial and medical applications," it said in a statement.
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