| Year | Laureate | Country | Reasons |
| 1901 | Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen | Germany
| For the discovery of X-rays
|
| 1902 | Hendrik A. Lorentz | Netherlands
| For the discovery of influence of magnetism upon radiation phenomena
|
| Pieter Zeeman | Netherlands
|
| 1903 | Henri Becquerel | France
| For researches on the radiation phenomena discovered by Professor Henri Becquerel
|
| Pierre Curie | France
|
| Marie Curie | France
|
| 1904 | Lord Rayleigh | UK
| For investigations of the densities of gases and for discovery of argon
|
| 1905 | Philipp Lenard | Germany
| For his work on cathode rays
|
| 1906 | J.J. Thomson | UK
| For work on the conduction of electricity by gases
|
| 1907 | Albert A. Michelson | USA
| For optical precision instruments and spectroscopic and metrological investigations
|
| 1908 | Gabriel Lippmann | France
| For method of reproducing colours photographically based on the phenomenon of interference
|
| 1909 | Guglielmo Marconi | Italy
| For the development of wireless telegraphy
|
| Ferdinand Braun | Germany
|
| 1910 | Johannes Diderik van der Waals | Netherlands
| For work on the equation of state for gases and liquids
|
| 1911 | Wilhelm Wien | Germany
| For discoveries regarding the laws governing the radiation of heat
|
| 1912 | Gustaf Dalén | Sweden
| For automatic regulators for use in conjunction with gas accumulators for illuminating lighthouses and buoys
|
| 1913 | Heike Kamerlingh Onnes | Netherlands
| For investigations of matter at low temperatures which led to the production of liquid helium
|
| 1914 | Max von Laue | Germany
| For discovery of the diffraction of X-rays by crystals
|
| 1915 | William Bragg | UK
| For their services in the analysis of crystal structure by means of X-rays
|
| Lawrence Bragg | UK
|
| 1916 | No award |
| –
|
| 1917 | Charles Glover Barkla | UK
| For discovery of the characteristic Röntgen radiation of the elements
|
| 1918 | Max Planck | Germany
| For the advancement of Physics by his discovery of energy quanta
|
| 1919 | Johannes Stark | Germany
| For discovery of the Doppler effect in canal rays and the splitting of spectral lines in electric fields
|
| 1920 | Charles Edouard Guillaume | Switzerland
| For precision measurements in Physics by his discovery of anomalies in nickel steel alloys
|
| 1921 | Albert Einstein | Germ.+Switz.
| For services to Theoretical Physics, and especially for discovery of the law of the photoelectric effect
|
| 1922 | Niels Bohr | Denmark
| For investigation of the structure of atoms and of the radiation emanating from them
|
| 1923 | Robert A. Millikan | USA
| For work on the elementary charge of electricity and on the photoelectric effect
|
| 1924 | Manne Siegbahn | Sweden
| For discoveries and research in the field of X-ray spectroscopy
|
| 1925 | James Franck | Germany
| For discovery of the laws governing the impact of an electron upon an atom
|
| Gustav Hertz | Germany
|
| 1926 | Jean Baptiste Perrin | France
| For work on the discontinuous structure of matter, and especially for discovery of sedimentation equilibrium
|
| 1927 | Arthur H. Compton | USA
| For discovery of Compton scattering
|
| Charles T.R. Wilson | UK
| For paths of charged particles made visible by condensation of vapour
|
| 1928 | Owen Willans Richardson | UK
| For work on the thermionic phenomenon and especially for the discovery of Richardson's law
|
| 1929 | Louis de Broglie | France
| For his discovery of the wave nature of electrons
|
| 1930 | Sir Venkata Raman | India
| For his work on the scattering of light and for the discovery of the Raman effect
|
| 1931 | No award |
| –
|
| 1932 | Werner Heisenberg | Germany
| For the creation of quantum mechanics
|
| 1933 | Erwin Schrödinger | Austria
| For the discovery of new productive forms of atomic theory
|
| Paul A.M. Dirac | UK
|
| 1934 | No award |
| –
|
| 1935 | James Chadwick | UK
| For the discovery of the neutron
|
| 1936 | Victor F. Hess | Austria
| For discovery of cosmic radiation
|
| Carl D. Anderson | USA
| For discovery of the positron
|
| 1937 | Clinton Davisson | USA
| For experimental discovery of the diffraction of electrons by crystals
|
| George Paget Thomson | UK
|
| 1938 | Enrico Fermi | Italy
| For new radioactive elements produced by neutron irradiation, and nuclear reactions
|
| 1939 | Ernest Lawrence | USA
| For the cyclotron and artificial radioactive elements
|
| 1940 | No award |
| –
|
| 1941 | No award |
| –
|
| 1942 | No award |
| –
|
| 1943 | Otto Stern | USA
| For molecular ray method and discovery of the magnetic moment of the proton
|
| 1944 | Isidor Isaac Rabi | USA
| For resonance method for recording the magnetic properties of atomic nuclei
|
| 1945 | Wolfgang Pauli | Austria
| For the Exclusion Principle, also called the Pauli Principle
|
| 1946 | Percy W. Bridgman | USA
| For apparatus to produce extremely high pressures, and discoveries in the field of high pressure physics
|
| 1947 | Edward V. Appleton | UK
| For physics of the upper atmosphere especially for the discovery of the Appleton layer
|
| 1948 | Patrick M.S. Blackett | UK
| For development of the Wilson cloud chamber and discoveries in nuclear physics and cosmic radiation
|
| 1949 | Hideki Yukawa | Japan
| For prediction of the existence of mesons on the basis of theoretical work on nuclear forces
|
| 1950 | Cecil Powell | UK
| For development of photographic method of studying nuclear processes and discoveries regarding mesons
|
| 1951 | John Cockcroft | UK
| For their pioneer work on the transmutation of atomic nuclei by artificially accelerated atomic particles
|
| Ernest T.S. Walton | Ireland
|
| 1952 | Felix Bloch | USA
| For development of new methods for nuclear magnetic precision measurements
|
| E. M. Purcell | USA
|
| 1953 | Frits Zernike | Netherlands
| For phase contrast method, especially for his invention of the phase contrast microscope
|
| 1954 | Max Born | UK
| For research in quantum mechanics, for statistical interpretation of wavefunction
|
| Walther Bothe | Germany
| For the coincidence method
|
| 1955 | Willis E. Lamb | USA
| For the fine structure of the hydrogen spectrum
|
| Polykarp Kusch | USA
| For the magnetic moment of the electron
|
| 1956 | William B. Shockley | USA
| For semiconductors and their discovery of the transistor effect
|
| John Bardeen | USA
|
| Walter H. Brattain | USA
|
| 1957 | Chen Ning Yang | China
| For parity laws in elementary particle physics
|
| Tsung-Dao Lee | China
|
| 1958 | Pavel A. Cherenkov | USSR
| For discovery and the interpretation of the Cherenkov effect
|
| Il'ja M. Frank | USSR
|
| Igor Y. Tamm | USSR
|
| 1959 | Emilio Segrè | USA
| For their discovery of the antiproton
|
| Owen Chamberlain | USA
|
| 1960 | Donald A. Glaser | USA
| For the invention of the bubble chamber
|
| 1961 | Robert Hofstadter | USA
| For electron scattering in atomic nuclei and for the structure of the nucleons
|
| Rudolf Mössbauer | Germany
| For resonance absorption of γ radiation and discovery of the Mössbauer effect
|
| 1962 | Lev Landau | USSR
| For theories for condensed matter, especially liquid helium
|
| 1963 | Eugene Wigner | USA
| For theory of atomic nucleus, elementary particles, discovery of symmetry principles
|
| Maria Goeppert-Mayer | USA
| For their discoveries concerning nuclear shell structure
|
| J. Hans D. Jensen | Germany
|
| 1964 | Charles H. Townes | USA
| For quantum electronics, oscillators and amplifiers based on the maser-laser principle
|
| Nicolay G. Basov | USSR
|
| Aleksandr M. Prokhorov | USSR
|
| 1965 | Sin-Itiro Tomonaga | Japan
| For quantum electrodynamics, with consequences for the physics of elementary particles
|
| Julian Schwinger | USA
|
| Richard P. Feynman | USA
|
| 1966 | Alfred Kastler | France
| For discovery and development of optical methods for studying Hertzian resonances in atoms
|
| 1967 | Hans Bethe | USA
| For theory of nuclear reactions, especially his discoveries concerning the energy production in stars
|
| 1968 | Luis Alvarez | USA
| For elementary particle physics, discovery of resonance states, hydrogen bubble chamber and data analysis
|
| 1969 | Murray Gell-Mann | USA
| For discoveries concerning the classification of elementary particles and their interactions
|
| 1970 | Hannes Alfvén | Sweden
| For magnetohydro-dynamics and applications plasma physics
|
| Louis Néel | France
| For antiferromagnetism and ferrimagnetism, applications in solid state physics
|
| 1971 | Dennis Gabor | UK
| For the holographic method
|
| 1972 | John Bardeen | USA
| For theory of superconductivity, usually called the BCS-theory
|
| Leon N. Cooper | USA
|
| Robert Schrieffer | USA
|
| 1973 | Leo Esaki | Japan
| For tunneling phenomena in semiconductors and superconductors
|
| Ivar Giaever | USA
|
| Brian D. Josephson | UK
| For predictions of the properties of a supercurrent through a tunnel barrier, the Josephson effects
|
| 1974 | Martin Ryle | UK
| For radio astrophysics: Ryle for the aperture synthesis technique, and Hewish for role in the discovery of pulsars
|
| Antony Hewish | UK
|
| 1975 | Aage N. Bohr | Denmark
| For collective motion and particle motion in atomic nuclei and the development of the theory of the structure of the atomic nucleus
|
| Ben R. Mottelson | Denmark
|
| James Rainwater | USA
|
| 1976 | Burton Richter | USA
| For work in the discovery of a heavy elementary particle of a new kind
|
| Samuel C.C. Ting | USA
|
| 1977 | Philip W. Anderson | USA
| For theoretical investigations of the electronic structure of magnetic and disordered systems
|
| Sir Nevill F. Mott | UK
|
| John H. van Vleck | USA
|
| 1978 | Pyotr Kapitsa | USSR
| For discoveries in the area of low-temperature physics
|
| Arno Penzias | USA
| For discovery of cosmic microwave background radiation
|
| Robert Woodrow Wilson | USA
|
| 1979 | Sheldon Glashow | USA
| For theory of the unified weak and electromagnetic interaction between elementary particles, the prediction of the weak neutral current
|
| Abdus Salam | Pakistan
|
| Steven Weinberg | USA
|
| 1980 | James Cronin | USA
| For discovery of violations of fundamental symmetry principles in the decay of neutral K-mesons
|
| Val Fitch | USA
|
| 1981 | Nicolaas Bloembergen | USA
| For laser spectroscopy
|
| Arthur L. Schawlow | USA
|
| Kai M. Siegbahn | Sweden
| For high-resolution electron spectroscopy
|
| 1982 | Kenneth G. Wilson | USA
| For his theory for critical phenomena in connection with phase transitions
|
| 1983 | Subramanyan Chandrasekhar | USA
| For physical processes in the structure and evolution of the stars
|
| William A. Fowler | USA
| For nuclear reactions in the formation of the chemical elements in the universe
|
| 1984 | Carlo Rubbia | Italy
| For contributions to the large project, which led to the discovery of the field particles W and Z, communicators of weak interaction
|
| Simon van der Meer | Netherlands
|
| 1985 | Klaus von Klitzing | Germany
| For the discovery of the quantized Hall effect
|
| 1986 | Ernst Ruska | Germany
| For electron optics, and design of the first electron microscope
|
| Gerd Binnig | Germany
| For the scanning tunneling microscope
|
| Heinrich Rohrer | Switzerland
|
| 1987 | J. Georg Bednorz | Germany
| For break-through in the discovery of superconductivity in ceramic materials
|
| K. Alex Müller | Switzerland
|
| 1988 | Leon M. Lederman | USA
| For neutrino beam method, the doublet structure of the leptons, and the discovery of the muon neutrino
|
| Melvin Schwartz | USA
|
| Jack Steinberger | USA
|
| 1989 | Norman F. Ramsey | USA
| For separated oscillatory fields method, the hydrogen maser and other atomic clocks
|
| Hans G. Dehmelt | USA
| For ion trap technique
|
| Wolfgang Paul | Germany
|
| 1990 | Jerome I. Friedman | USA
| For deep inelastic scattering of electrons on protons and bound neutrons, the quark model in particle physics
|
| Henry W. Kendall | USA
|
| Richard E. Taylor | Canada
|
| 1991 | Pierre-Gilles de Gennes | France
| For generalization of methods for simple systems to more complex forms of matter, to liquid crystals and polymers
|
| 1992 | Georges Charpak | France
| For particle detectors, in particular the multiwire proportional chamber
|
| 1993 | Russell A. Hulse | USA
| For the discovery of a new type of pulsar, a discovery that has opened up new possibilities for the study of gravitation
|
| Joseph H. Taylor Jr. | USA
|
| 1994 | Bertram N. Brockhouse | Canada
| For neutron spectroscopy
|
| Clifford G. Shull | USA
| For neutron diffraction technique
|
| 1995 | Martin L. Perl | USA
| For the discovery of the tau lepton
|
| Frederick Reines | USA
| For detection of the neutrino
|
| 1996 | David M. Lee | USA
| For discovery of superfluidity in helium-3
|
| Douglas D. Osheroff | USA
|
| Robert C. Richardson | USA
|
| 1997 | Steven Chu | USA
| For methods to cool and trap atoms with laser light
|
| Claude Cohen-Tannoudji | France
|
| William D. Phillips | USA
|
| 1998 | Robert B. Laughlin | USA
| For discovery of a new form of quantum fluid with fractionally charged excitations
|
| Horst L. Störmer | Germany
|
| Daniel C. Tsui | USA
|
| 1999 | Gerardus 't Hooft | Netherlands
| For elucidating the quantum structure of electroweak interactions in physics
|
| Martinus J.G. Veltman | Netherlands
|
| 2000 | Zhores I. Alferov | Russia
| For work on ICT, semiconductor heterostructures opto-electronics
|
| Herbert Kroemer | Germany
|
| Jack S. Kilby | USA
| For work on ICT, for his part in the invention of the integrated circuit
|
| 2001 | Eric A. Cornell | USA
| For Bose-Einstein condensation in dilute gases of alkali atoms, and for early fundamental studies of the properties of the condensates
|
| Wolfgang Ketterle | Germany
|
| Carl E. Wieman | USA
|
| 2002 | Raymond Davis Jr. | USA
| For astrophysics, the detection of cosmic neutrinos
|
| Masatoshi Koshiba | Japan
|
| Riccardo Giacconi | USA
| For astrophysics, the discovery of cosmic X-ray sources
|
| 2003 | Alexei A. Abrikosov | USA+Russia
| For theory of superconductors and superfluids
|
| Vitaly L. Ginzburg | Russia
|
| Anthony J. Leggett | UK+USA
|
| 2004 | David J. Gross | USA
| For discovery of asymptotic freedom in the theory of the strong interaction
|
| H. David Politzer | USA
|
| Frank Wilczek | USA
|
| 2005 | Roy J. Glauber | USA
| For quantum theory of optical coherence
|
| John L. Hall | USA
| For laser-based precision spectroscopy, including the optical frequency comb technique
|
| Theodor W. Hänsch | Germany
|
| 2006 | John C. Mather | USA
| For discovery of the blackbody form and anisotropy of the cosmic microwave background radiation
|
| George F. Smoot | USA
|
| 2007 | Albert Fert | France
| For the discovery of Giant Magnetoresistance
|
| Peter Grünberg | Germany
|
| 2008 | Yoichiro Nambu | Japan
| For mechanism of spontaneous broken symmetry in subatomic physics
|
| Makoto Kobayashi | Japan
| For origin of the broken symmetry, existence of at least three families of quarks
|
| Toshihide Maskawa | Japan
|
| 2009 | Charles K. Kao | China+UK
| For transmission of light in fibers for optical communication
|
| Willard S. Boyle | USA
| For invention of an imaging semiconductor circuit – the CCD sensor
|
| George E. Smith | USA
|
| 2010 | Andre Geim | Russia+Netherlands
| For groundbreaking experiments regarding the two-dimensional material graphene
|
| Konstantin Novoselov | Russia+UK
|
| 2011 | Saul Perlmutter | USA
| For the discovery of the accelerating expansion of the universe through observations of distant supernovae
|
| Brian P. Schmidt | Australia+USA
|
| Adam G. Riess | USA
|
| 2012 | Serge Haroche | France
| For ground-breaking experimental methods that enable measuring and manipulation of individual quantum systems
|
| David J. Wineland | USA
|
| 2013 | François Englert | Belgium
| For the theoretical discovery of a mechanism that contributes to our understanding of the origin of mass of subatomic particles, and which recently was confirmed through the discovery of the predicted fundamental particle, by the ATLAS and CMS experiments at CERN's Large Hadron Collider
|
| Peter Higgs | UK
|
