Three American physicists — John Clarke of the University of California, Berkeley; Michel H. Devoret of Yale University and UC Santa Barbara; and John M. Martinis of UC Santa Barbara — have been awarded the 2025 Nobel Prize in Physics for their groundbreaking work that revealed how quantum mechanics operates on a macroscopic scale.
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced the winners in Stockholm on Tuesday, citing their “discovery of macroscopic quantum mechanical tunnelling and energy quantisation in an electric circuit.”
The trio’s experiments, carried out in the mid-1980s, used superconducting circuits to demonstrate that quantum effects — usually confined to the atomic or microscopic scale — can be observed in larger, hand-held systems. Their work involved Josephson junctions, tiny barriers between superconductors through which particles can “tunnel,” or pass directly through, defying classical physics.
In one of their pivotal experiments, the physicists showed that a current trapped behind an energy barrier could “escape” via quantum tunnelling — proving that quantum laws govern even collective systems made up of billions of particles. They also observed that the system’s energy states were quantised, meaning it could absorb or emit only specific energy amounts, in line with quantum predictions.
“It is wonderful to celebrate how century-old quantum mechanics continues to surprise us,” said Olle Eriksson, Chair of the Nobel Committee for Physics. “It is also enormously useful, as quantum mechanics is the foundation of all digital technology.”
Their findings helped pave the way for the modern field of quantum technologies — the basis for innovations like quantum computers, quantum cryptography, and ultra-precise sensors.
Quantum mechanics, which describes how particles behave at atomic and subatomic scales, underpins today’s semiconductor and microchip technology. But this discovery, scientists say, shows that quantum behaviour can be engineered and controlled at scales visible to the human eye — a leap with profound implications for computing and communication.
Who are the 2025 Nobel Physics Laureates?
All three laureates are long-time leaders in experimental quantum physics based at U.S. universities.
John Clarke, a Cambridge-trained physicist, has been with the University of California, Berkeley since 1969 and is now a professor emeritus at its Graduate School.
Michel H. Devoret, born in Paris and holding a Ph.D. from the University of Paris, is professor emeritus of applied physics at the Yale Quantum Institute, Yale University.
John M. Martinis, who earned his Ph.D. from UC Berkeley, taught at UC Santa Barbara and later joined Google’s Quantum AI team, where he helped advance superconducting quantum computer design.
Learn more
The 2024 Nobel Prize in Physics went to John J. Hopfield and Geoffrey E. Hinton for their pioneering work that helped computers learn like the human brain — research that laid the foundation for today’s artificial intelligence revolution.
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