Russian-born scientists Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov were named the 2010 Nobel Prize winners for physics on Tuesday by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm, Sweden.

Geim and Novoselov, who work at the University of Manchester in England, won the prize for inventing the graphene, a one-atom-thick layer of carbon resembling a nanoscale chicken wire. In an analogy, physicist Per Delsing of the Chalmers University of Technology in Göteborg, Sweden described graphene as a one-square-meter hammock weighing one milligram but can carry a four-kilogram cat.

The transparent, flexible and strong material that conducts electricity is useful for electronics applications. It is already being used to make high-speed transistors.

The two scientists will share the cash prize of $1.5 million that comes with the prestigious scientific award.

The 36-year-old Novoselov, who also holds a British passport, became the youngest laureate in physics since Brian D. Josephson shared the same prize in 1973 for discovering the Josephson effect at age 33.

Geim, 51, and Novoselov discovered graphene in 2004 by cleaving graphite or pencil lead with adhesive tape.