The story so far: Quantum mechanics says that particles can sometimes cross barriers they don’t have the energy to climb, like boring through a mountain instead of scaling it first. This process, called tunnelling, is common in nuclear and atomic physics. The 2025 physics Nobel Prize laureates John Clarke, Michel Devoret, and John Martinis showed that such behaviour can occur not only in subatomic particles but also in an electrical circuit made of superconductors. The finding opens the door to new technologies set to transform the way we collect, study, understand, and use information from our surroundings.

What is a Josephson junction?

The fundamental unit of the award-winning experiments the trio conducted is a device called a Josephson junction. Here, two superconductors are separ

See Full Page