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Nobel Prize in Physics Goes to Clarke, Devoret and Martinis for Macroscopic Quantum Tunnelling in Circuits

Experiments in superconducting circuits during the 1980s proved macroscopic quantum tunnelling with discrete energy levels, laying the groundwork for qubits.

La théorie des ondelettes, la "cape d'invisibilité" ou la science derrière le télescope spatial James Webb figurent parmi les recherches qui pourraient remporter le prix Nobel de physique
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L'Académie royale des sciences de Suède dévoile les lauréats du Nobel de physique, mardi 7 octobre 2025, à Stockholm.

Overview

  • The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences honored John Clarke, Michel H. Devoret and John M. Martinis for demonstrating macroscopic quantum tunnelling and the quantisation of energy in an electrical circuit.
  • The laureates’ mid‑1980s work with superconducting circuits and Josephson junctions showed quantum effects in systems large enough to hold in the hand.
  • The Nobel committee said the discoveries opened the way to next‑generation quantum technologies, including quantum computers, quantum cryptography and quantum sensors.
  • Devoret is a Yale physicist and chief scientist at Google Quantum AI, Martinis previously led Google’s quantum hardware effort before founding Qolab, and Clarke is a longtime UC Berkeley experimentalist.
  • The prize includes a gold medal, a diploma and 11 million Swedish kronor to be shared, with Clarke calling the recognition a surprise and noting everyday technologies like mobile phones benefit from quantum principles.