Three US-based scientists, John Clarke, Michel Devoret, and John Martinis, have won the 2025 Nobel Prize in Physics for their groundbreaking experiments that brought quantum physics to life, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced on Tuesday.
According to the Nobel Committee, their work laid the foundation for the next generation of quantum technology, including advances in quantum computing, cryptography, and sensors.
The trio earned recognition for a series of experiments from the mid-1980s, where they used superconducting electronic circuits to prove that quantum mechanical effects could be seen and controlled on a large, visible scale — something once thought impossible.
Speaking by phone during the Nobel press conference, Clarke said he was shocked and deeply honored. “I’m completely stunned. I never imagined this research would lead to a Nobel Prize,” he said. “I’m talking to you on my cell phone, and it works partly because of this very research.”
Clarke, originally from the UK, is a professor at the University of California, Berkeley. Devoret, who hails from France, teaches at Yale University and the University of California, Santa Barbara. Martinis, an American physicist, also teaches at UC Santa Barbara and previously led Google’s Quantum Artificial Intelligence Lab until 2020.
Olle Eriksson, chair of the Nobel Committee for Physics, praised their work, saying, “It’s amazing how quantum mechanics, a theory that’s more than a century old, continues to surprise us. It’s still at the heart of all modern digital technology.”
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