Overview

• The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences recognized experiments demonstrating macroscopic quantum tunneling and quantized energy levels in an electrical circuit.
• The laureates built a superconducting system that switched between states via tunneling and absorbed or emitted fixed energy quanta as predicted by quantum mechanics.
• Officials highlighted the work’s relevance to established digital electronics and to next‑generation quantum technologies including computing, cryptography and sensing.
• John Clarke, Michel H. Devoret and John M. Martinis hail from the UK, France and the United States, and all are active at Californian universities.
• The winners share a gold medal, a diploma and 11 million Swedish kronor, with Chemistry, Literature and Peace to follow this week and the Economics prize on October 13.