German physics Nobel laureate Peter Gruenberg dead at 78

German physicist Peter Gruenberg, a joint Nobel Prize winner whose work revolutionised digital data storage, has died aged 78, his research centre said Monday.

Professor Gruenberg died last week, said a statement by the Research Centre Juelich near Cologne, mourning the loss of "an excellent researcher" and "well-respected and popular colleague".

Gruenberg received the 2007 Nobel prize for physics, together with French scientist Albert Fert, after both had separately discovered so-called giant magnetoresistance (GMR) which led to a breakthrough in the development of gigabyte hard disks.

Their work laid the foundations for the field of spintronics, which exploits the quantum mechanical spin of electrons for micro- and nanoelectronics, with applications ranging from video tape to MP3 players and hard disks, said the centre.

"Without exaggeration one can say Peter Gruenberg and his discovery of giant magnetoresistance decisively changed our lives," said the institute in a statement.

"Without him, modern computers and smartphones as we know them would be unthinkable."