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2025 Nobel Prize in Physics Winners | The 2025 Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to John Clarke, Michel H. Devoret and John M. Martinis “for the discovery of macroscopic quantum mechanical tunnelling and energy quantisation in an electric circuit.” Their experiments have laid the foundation for quantum computing. The laureates will share prize money of 11 million Swedish kronor or $1.2 million. (Image: Reuters)
2 / 7What is Quantum Tunnelling | Tunnelling or quantum tunnelling is a phenomenon in quantum physics where a single particle can pass through a barrier. Experiments conducted by this year’s Nobel laureates demonstrated the same phenomenon on a macroscopic scale. (Image: Canva)
3 / 7Demonstration of Quantum Tunnelling on a Macroscopic Scale | Using a superconducting electrical circuit, they demonstrated how a system large enough to hold in one’s hand could “tunnel” through barriers and absorb or emit energy in fixed amounts exactly as quantum theory predicts. Their work bridges the gap between the quantum and everyday worlds, paving the way for advances like quantum computing. (Image: Canva)
4 / 7About John Clarke | John Clarke is a professor emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley, in the US. He had joined the university’s Physics faculty in 1969, a year after completing his doctoral degree at the University of Cambridge, UK, in 1968. His work as a physicist has earned him many accolades, including California Scientist of the Year in 1987, the American Physical Society’s Joseph F. Keithley Award for Advances in Measurement Science in 1998, among many other awards and fellowships. According to Reuters reports, Clarke told the Nobel press conference by telephone that he is “stunned” to be receiving the award. “I’m speaking on my cell phone and I suspect that you are too, and one of the underlying reasons that the cell phone works is because of all this work,” he said. (Image: UC Berkeley)
5 / 7About Michel devour | Born in 1953 in Paris, France, Michel Devoret is a professor at Yale University and the University of California, Santa Barbara. Devoret has a long list of awards and honours to his name, including the Comstock Prize in Physics, the National Academy of Sciences in 2024, the Micius Quantum Prize in 2022, and the Olli V. Lounasmaa Memorial Prize in 2016, among many others. (Image: Yale Engineering)
6 / 7About John M. Martinis | John M. Martinis is also a professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara in the US. He was a doctoral student and Devoret a post-doctoral student when they first joined Clarke’s research group at UC Berkeley in the mid-1980s. (Image: Association for Computing Machinery)
7 / 7Nobel Prize in Physics History | The Nobel Prize in Physics has been awarded by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences since 1901. A total of 230 laureates, including five women, have received the prize so far. The youngest recipient was Lawrence Bragg, who received the prize at 25, while the oldest was Arthur Ashkin, who was 96 when he was awarded the prize in 2018.
