The Nobel Prize in Physics 2025 was announced in Stockholm on 7 October and awarded to John Clarke, Michel H. Devoret and John M. Martinis for demonstrating macroscopic quantum tunneling and energy quantisation in a superconducting electrical circuit—findings that underpin next‑generation quantum technology.
Why macroscopic quantum tunneling matters for technology
The laureates showed that a collective quantum system on a silicon chip can behave as a single “super‑particle” and tunnel between energy states. This brought a textbook‑level quantum effect into a device large enough to handle in the lab, tightening the bridge between quantum mechanics and practical engineering.
Their work helped establish building blocks for qubits, ultra‑sensitive quantum sensors and secure quantum communication.
The experiments: superconducting circuits and quantised energy
In the mid‑1980s the trio and collaborators engineered a superconducting circuit whose dynamics are governed by the Josephson effect. By cooling the device to near absolute zero and isolating it from noise, they observed discrete energy levels—a hallmark of quantum behaviour—and a particle‑like escape of the system from a potential well via macroscopic quantum tunneling.
Crucially, the circuit comprised billions of electrons moving as Cooper pairs, yet the system exhibited a single, coherent quantum phase, allowing quantum effects to appear on a macroscopic scale.
Nobel Prize in Physics 2025: from fundamental insight to applications
By proving that tunneling and energy quantisation can be controlled in an engineered circuit, the laureates created pathways for quantum computing architectures (notably superconducting qubits), low‑noise readout techniques and quantum‑limited amplifiers.
These advances now inform efforts to scale quantum processors and to deploy precision measurement tools in areas such as medical imaging, materials research and navigation.
Who are the laureates
John Clarke (UK/USA) is a leading figure in superconducting quantum devices and ultra‑sensitive magnetometry. Michel H. Devoret (France/USA) pioneered circuit quantum electrodynamics (cQED) and methods to control quantum states in electrical circuits. John M. Martinis (USA) led major advances in superconducting qubits and error‑reduction strategies, including demonstrations of multi‑qubit processors. Together, their earlier experiments established the proof‑of‑principle that complex circuits can host robust quantum phenomena.
Reactions from the academy and the laureates
At the announcement, the Nobel committee stressed that quantum mechanics, over a century since its birth, “keeps offering new surprises” while remaining the basis of modern digital technology.
Reached by phone, one of the laureates described the decision as “overwhelming”, noting that the original experiments were not undertaken with awards in mind but to test the limits of quantum theory in real devices.
How the Nobel Prizes are awarded: Stockholm and Oslo
The Physics Prize is decided and presented by Sweden’s Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences (Kungliga Vetenskapsakademien) in Stockholm each October, with formal award ceremonies on 10 December.
By contrast, the Nobel Peace Prize is selected and presented by the Norwegian Nobel Committee in Oslo. Other prizes—Physiology or Medicine, Chemistry and Literature—are likewise announced and awarded in Stockholm.
