France's Serge Haroche and David J. Wineland from the United States on Tuesday won the 2012 Nobel Prize in Physics for their work on interaction between light and matter.

They were rewarded for "ground-breaking experimental methods that enable measuring and manipulation of individual quantum systems, "announced Staffan Normark, Permanent Secretary of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm.

"The Nobel Laureates have opened the door to a new era of experimentation with quantum physics by demonstrating the direct observation of individual quantum particles without destroying them," commented the academy in a statement.