Nobel Prize in Physics awarded to trio for quantum tunnelling breakthroughs

The 2025 Nobel Prize in Physics has been awarded to John Clarke, Michel H Devoret, and John M. Martinis for their pioneering work on macroscopic quantum mechanical tunnelling and energy quantisation in electric circuits.

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced that their experiments showed that quantum mechanical properties, usually confined to atomic and subatomic systems, can manifest in larger-scale, man-made electrical circuits.

Their work involved superconducting circuits using a Josephson junction, where two superconductors are separated by a thin insulating barrier.

In these systems, they observed that the circuit as a whole could “tunnel” between states even though classical physics would forbid it — effectively allowing the system to cross energy barriers quantum mechanically.

They also demonstrated energy quantisation in that circuit, meaning the system only absorbs or emits discrete amounts of energy, consistent with quantum theory.

At the press conference, Clarke described learning of the award as “the surprise of my life,” adding that the team’s discovery “in some ways is the basis of quantum computing.”

He also commented that one of the underlying implications is that current technologies, such as cellphones, indirectly rely on the same foundational quantum principles.

Olle Eriksson, chair of the Nobel Committee for Physics, remarked: “It is wonderful to be able to celebrate the way that century-old quantum mechanics continually offers new surprises. It is also enormously useful, as quantum mechanics is the foundation of all digital technology.”

The three laureates will share a prize sum of 11 million Swedish kronor, to be divided equally.

The formal award ceremony is scheduled for December, following the tradition of Nobel Prize presentations.

Their research marks a key step forward in bridging the gap between “weird quantum phenomena at very small scales” and practical, engineered quantum systems.

The ability to observe quantum tunnelling and quantisation in circuits large enough to handle has important implications for quantum computing, quantum sensors, and cryptography.