3 Scientists Win Nobel for Quantum Computing Breakthrough

Three physicists who met in a California laboratory four decades ago just won the 2025 Nobel Prize in Physics for making quantum mechanics work in the real world. Michel Devoret from France, John Clarke from the UK, and John Martinis from the US proved that quantum physics isn't just theory anymore.

Back in 1984, the trio worked together at UC Berkeley when Clarke was director, Devoret was a postdoc, and Martinis was a doctoral student. They discovered something remarkable: quantum properties that usually exist only at invisible scales could actually work in devices you can hold in your hand.

Their breakthrough proved that superconducting circuits could harness quantum tunneling and energy quantization. Today, those discoveries form the foundation of quantum computing research happening in labs worldwide.

Devoret started his journey at what's now Paris-Saclay University before joining Clarke's Berkeley lab. After their Nobel-worthy work together, he returned to France's Atomic Energy Commission for 15 years, then moved to Yale University in the early 2000s where he continues teaching.

Martinis, born in California, also spent part of his postdoctoral years in France at the same research center where Devoret began. The scientific circle came full circle across two continents.

France is celebrating twice over. Devoret is the country's seventh physics Nobel winner since 2007 and 18th overall. The French Ministry of Higher Education called it proof of "the excellence of French fundamental research."

The Ripple Effect

The implications reach far beyond one prize. Quantum computers promise to solve problems that would take traditional computers millions of years. They could revolutionize medicine by modeling complex molecules, strengthen cybersecurity, and tackle climate modeling.

France's Atomic Energy Commission noted this award continues a "remarkable line of French Nobel Prizes in the quantum field." Young scientists now have three role models who prove international collaboration creates breakthroughs nobody achieves alone.

The trio's friendship shows how sharing knowledge across borders multiplies discovery. One became a research director in France, another stayed at Berkeley, and the third teaches at Yale, yet their collaboration 40 years ago still shapes the future.

What started as curiosity in a Berkeley basement may soon power computers that change everything we know about problem-solving.