Professor Charles Kuen Kao (born 4 November 1933) is a Chinese pioneer in the use of fiber optics in telecommunications. Kao, widely regarded as the "Father of Fiber Optic Communications", was awarded half of the 2009 Nobel Prize in Physics for "groundbreaking achievements concerning the transmission of light in fibers for optical communication".
In early 1960s in STL, along with George Hockham, Kao did his pioneering work in the realisation of fiber optics as a telecommunications medium, by demonstrating that the high-loss of existing fiber optics arose from impurities in the glass, rather than from an underlying problem with the technology itself. Kao did not only consider the optical physics but also the material properties. The results were first presented by Kao in early 1966 and further published in June. This study first theorized and proposed to use glass fibers to implement optical communication, the ideas (especially structural features and materials) described largely are the basis of today's optical fiber communication.
In 1965, Kao concluded that the fundamental limitation for glass light attenuation is below 20 dB/km (Decibels per Kilometer, is a measure of the attenuation of a signal over a distance), which is a key threshold value for optical communications. However, at the time of this determination, optical fibers commonly exhibited light loss as high as 1,000 db/km and even more. This conclusion opened the intense race to find low-loss materials and suitable fibers for reaching such criteria.
Kao, together with his new team (members including T.W. Davies, M.W. Jones, and C.R. Wright), pursued this goal by testing various materials. They precisely measured the attenuation of light with different wavelengths in glasses and other materials. During this period, Kao pointed out that the high purity of fused silica (SiO2) made it an ideal candidate for optical communication. Kao also stated that the impurity of glass material is the main cause for the dramatic decay of light transmission inside glass fiber, rather than fundamental physical effects such as scattering as many physicists thought at that time, and such impurity could be removed. This immediately stimulated a worldwide study and production of high-purity glass fibers. Theatrically, when Kao first proposed that such glass fiber could be used for long-distance information transfer, his ideas were widely disbelieved; later people realized that Kao's ideas revolutionized the whole communication technology and industry.
Kao also played a key role in the engineering and commercial realisation of optical communication. Kao visited many research institutes including Bell Laboratories and even glass factories, discussed with various people including engineers, scientists, businessmen about the techniques and improvement of glass fiber manufacture.
恭賀高錕教授榮獲2009諾貝爾物理學獎。有「光纖之父」之稱的高錕教授因發明感光元件(CCD)與其餘兩位科學家共同獲得諾貝爾物理學獎殊榮。早在1966年，高教授在論文中已提出以玻璃纖維作導體，並以「光」作為通信的橋樑，促進了現代通信及互聯網的發展。在1987年，他曾任香港中文大學校長，直至1996年才正式退休。1996年，中國科學院紫金山天文台更為表揚他在科學上的貢獻，把他們所新發現的小行星命名為「高錕星」。本集節目拍攝於2000年。
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香港百人 HD 光纖之父-高錕 01by hkeecco2,009 views
你們應該不要相信我, 因為我本來也不相信專家的講法...好有氣度...
shekww 2 years ago 40
A truly brilliant Chinese!!!!
JFUNGKAYI 2 years ago 4