Three physicists win 2025 Nobel for groundbreaking work in quantum mechanics photo

The 2025 Nobel Prize in Physics has been awarded to scientists John Clarke of the United Kingdom, Michel H. Devoret of France, and John M. Martinis of the United States for groundbreaking discoveries in quantum mechanics, specifically their work on macroscopic quantum tunnelling and the quantisation of energy in an electric circuit.

As reported by Caliber.Az, the Nobel Committee announced on the official prize website that the trio’s pioneering experiments fundamentally advanced the understanding of quantum behaviour in macroscopic systems.

In 1984 and 1985, Clarke, Devoret, and Martinis conducted a series of landmark experiments using an electronic circuit made of superconductors — materials capable of conducting electrical current with zero resistance. These superconducting components were separated by a dielectric layer, a non-superconducting material, forming what is known as a Josephson junction. Through this junction, a supercurrent, or “Josephson current,” can flow without any applied voltage. By carefully measuring the circuit’s properties, the researchers observed quantum phenomena that occur when current passes through such a system, offering direct evidence of quantum effects on a macroscopic scale.

According to the Nobel Committee, “the charged particles moving through the superconductor formed a system that behaved as if they were a single particle filling the entire circuit,” demonstrating the extraordinary coherence of quantum mechanical states in large systems.

The laureates’ biographical details are as follows:

• John Clarke, born in 1942 in Cambridge, UK; earned his PhD in 1968 from the University of Cambridge and is currently a professor at the University of California, Berkeley.

• Michel H. Devoret, born in 1953 in Paris, France; received his PhD in 1982 from Paris-Sud University and now serves as a professor at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, and the University of California, Santa Barbara.

• John M. Martinis, born in 1958; earned his PhD in 1987 from the University of California, Berkeley, and is a professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

The three scientists will share the 11 million Swedish kronor prize, equivalent to nearly $1.2 million.

“It is wonderful to be able to celebrate the way that century-old quantum mechanics continually offers new surprises,” 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.”

By Tamilla Hasanova