Clarke, Devoret, Martinis Win 2025 Physics Nobel for Macroscopic Quantum Tunneling Discovery

The 2025 Nobel Prize in Physics has been awarded to John Clarke, Michel H. Devoret, and John M. Martinis for their groundbreaking discovery of macroscopic quantum mechanical tunneling and energy quantization in an electric circuit. Their experiments in the 1980s demonstrated that quantum effects, previously thought to be limited to microscopic scales, can manifest in larger, human-scale superconducting circuits known as Josephson junctions. These circuits behave like single quantum particles, exhibiting phenomena such as quantum tunneling through energy barriers and discrete energy levels, effectively acting as "artificial atoms." This discovery bridges the gap between microscopic quantum physics and everyday experience and has significant implications for developing next-generation quantum technologies, including quantum computers. The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences emphasized that the finding underscores how quantum mechanical principles continue to open new scientific and technological opportunities nearly a century after the birth of quantum mechanics. The laureates expressed surprise at the impact of their work, which has become fundamental to many modern devices and future quantum advancements.