Three Scientists Win Nobel Physics Prize For Unlocking Quantum Secrets

By Micheal Chukwuebuka

Three scientists, John Clarke from the United Kingdom, Michel Devoret from France, and John Martinis from the United States, have been awarded the 2025 Nobel Prize in Physics for their pioneering research demonstrating quantum physics in action.

Announcing the award in Stockholm on Tuesday, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said the trio was recognised “for the discovery of macroscopic quantum mechanical tunnelling and energy quantisation in an electric circuit.”

Their experiments, carried out in the 1980s, provided concrete evidence that quantum phenomena, usually observed only on microscopic scales, can also manifest on a macroscopic level — in systems large enough to be physically handled.

Quantum mechanics governs the strange behaviour of matter and energy at extremely small scales, where the familiar rules of classical physics no longer apply. For instance, while a ball hitting a wall would ordinarily bounce back, a quantum particle can “tunnel” through a barrier, appearing on the other side without crossing it in the conventional sense.

The Nobel jury noted that Clarke, Devoret and Martinis succeeded in demonstrating quantum tunnelling and energy quantisation in superconducting electric circuits, showing that the bizarre properties of the quantum world can be replicated and studied in systems made up of many interacting particles.

Their work laid the foundation for the development of quantum technologies, including quantum computing and quantum sensors, which could revolutionise computing, communication, and measurement in the future.

In its statement, the Academy praised the laureates for “making the invisible visible”, proving that quantum effects are not confined to the atomic realm but can be engineered into tangible, measurable systems.

The award adds to growing recognition of quantum research as a cornerstone of next-generation science and technology.