The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided to award the Nobel Prize in Physics 2025 to John Clarke, Michel H. Devoret, and John M. Martinis "for the discovery of macroscopic quantum-mechanical tunneling and energy quantization in an electrical circuit," the Nobel Committee announced on October 7, UNN reports.
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"The Nobel Prize in Physics 2025 is awarded for experiments demonstrating the possibility of observing quantum tunneling at macroscopic scales involving multiple particles," the statement reads.
John Clarke, Michel Devoret, and John Martinis, recipients of this year's Nobel Prize in Physics, conducted an experiment using a superconducting electrical circuit, the committee noted.
The size of the microchip containing this circuit was about a centimeter. Previously, tunneling and energy quantization were studied in systems consisting of only a few particles; here, these phenomena were found in a quantum-mechanical system with billions of Cooper pairs filling the entire superconductor on the microchip. Thus, the experiment transferred quantum-mechanical effects from the microscopic to the macroscopic scale, the committee indicated.
Reportedly, this year's physics laureates' experiments on a chip demonstrated quantum physics in action.
"Transistors in computer microchips are one example of established quantum technology that surrounds us. The Nobel Prize in Physics 2025 has opened up possibilities for the development of the next generation of quantum technologies, including quantum cryptography, quantum computers, and quantum sensors," the statement said.