Kao, << kow, >> Charles Kuen (1933-2018), a British and American electrical engineer, shared the 2009 Nobel Prize in physics for his work in the development of fiber optics. Fiber optics is the transmission of light through a transparent glass or plastic cable. It is widely used in communications—including the high-speed transfer of computer data—and in the medical field. Kao shared the prize with the Canadian and American physicist Willard Sterling Boyle and the American physicist George Elwood Smith. Boyle and Smith were honored for an invention called the charge-coupled device (see Boyle, Willard Sterling ; Smith, George Elwood ).
Fiber optics work on the principle that light entering one end of a clear, cylindrical fiber can travel through the entire length of the fiber until it reaches the other end. This fact enables the fiber, even if bent, to transmit light in much the same way wires carry electric current. But compared with the use of electrical wires, fiber optics is generally cheaper, transmits information faster, uses less energy, and can carry far more information at one time (see Fiber optics ).
In the mid-1960’s, Kao was working with glass fibers at the Standard Telecommunication Laboratories in Harlow, England. He was trying to figure out why much of the light that entered a glass fiber disappeared before reaching the other end. Many researchers at the time believed that the loss of light strength was a basic limitation of fiber optics and could not be overcome. Kao discovered that chemicals added to the glass during manufacture were causing the signal loss. Kao’s findings were published in 1966. Scholars consider his discovery a turning point in the development of fiber optics.
Kao was born in Shanghai, China, on Nov. 4, 1933. He earned both a bachelor’s degree and a Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering from the University of London, finishing in 1965. While completing his Ph.D. degree, Kao also worked at Standard Telecommunication Laboratories (STL), where he stayed until 1970. From 1970 to 1974, he taught at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Kao then moved to the United States to work for the parent company of STL, the ITT Corporation, in White Plains, New York. From 1984 to 85, he also served as an adjunct professor at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. From 1987 to 1996, he served as vice chancellor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Afterward, he held several engineering positions with private companies. Kao was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2010. He died on Sept. 23, 2018.
