Biography:Michel Devoret

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Michel Devoret
Devoret in 2025
Born
Michel Henri Devoret

(1953-03-05) 5 March 1953 (age 73)
Paris, France
Education
  • École nationale supérieure des télécommunications (grad. 1975)
  • University of Orsay (grad. 1976, 1982)
Known for
Awards
  • Ampère Prize (1991)
  • Descartes–Huygens Prize (1995)
  • EPS Europhysics Prize (2004)
  • John Stewart Bell Prize (2013)
  • Fritz London Memorial Prize (2014)
  • Olli V. Lounasmaa Memorial Prize (2016)
  • Micius Quantum Prize (2021)
  • Comstock Prize in Physics (2024)
  • Nobel Prize in Physics (2025)
Scientific career
FieldsPhysics
Institutions
ThesisMise en évidence d'un ordre orientationnel de type vitreux dans l'hydrogène et le deutérium solides (1982)
Doctoral advisorNeil S. Sullivan
Doctoral studentsVincent Bouchiat[1]

Michel Henri Devoret (fr; born 5 March 1953)[2] is a French–American physicist. He is Professor of Physics at the University of California, Santa Barbara,[3][4] and Professor Emeritus of Applied Physics at Yale University.[5] He serves as the Chief Scientist for Quantum Hardware at Google Quantum AI.[6] He is known for the development of various superconducting quantum computing architectures, including the quantronium, the transmon, and the fluxonium.

Devoret shared the 2025 Nobel Prize in Physics with John Clarke and John M. Martinis for their joint work on macroscopic quantum phenomena in superconducting circuits.[7]

Early life and education

Michel Henri Devoret was born on 5 March 1953 in Paris.[8][9] He has stated that his parents were of Jewish background, even though they were not religious.[10]

Devoret graduated with an engineer's degree in 1975 from École nationale supérieure des télécommunications (now Télécom Paris). He then obtained a DEA (Diplôme d'études approfondies (fr)) in Quantum Optics in 1976, followed by a Ph.D. in Quantum Condensed Matter Physics in 1982, both from the University of Orsay (now Paris-Saclay University).[11][8] He performed his doctoral research at CEA Saclay in the group of Anatole Abragam,[12][13] under the supervision of Neil S. Sullivan.[13]

Career

Devoret worked as a postdoctoral researcher in John Clarke's group at the University of California, Berkeley, from 1982 to 1984.[8] Together, with John M. Martinis, a graduate student at the time, they demonstrated for the first time the quantized energy levels of a Josephson junction in 1985.[8][12]

Devoret then returned to France and founded the Quantronics group at the Orme des Merisiers laboratory of CEA Saclay together with Daniel Esteve (fr) and Cristian Urbina. The group measured the traversal time of tunnelling, invented an electron pump, observed the charge of Cooper pairs directly, and developed a type of qubit dubbed quantronium. They also observed the Ramsey fringes of quantronium.[8][14][15]

In 1996, Devoret spent a research stay in the laboratory of Hans Mooij (de) at Delft University of Technology.[16]

Devoret became a professor at Yale University in 2002. At Yale University, Steven Girvin, Robert J. Schoelkopf, and Devoret devised a type of superconducting charge qubit called the transmon.[17][18] In 2009, Devoret also pioneered fluxonium,[19] which can be understood as a special type of flux qubit. In 2010, he also developed a microwave quantum limited amplifier for qubit readout and sensing.[20][21]

He also participated in 2018 in an experiment demonstrating the interruption and reversal of quantum jumps in a superconducting artificial atom, providing new insights into the dynamics of quantum measurement.[22]

From 2007 to 2012, Michel Devoret held the Chair of Mesoscopic Physics at the Collège de France where his inaugural lecture, "From the Atom to Quantum Machines," illustrated the connection between fundamental quantum phenomena and emerging quantum technologies.[23][24] He resigned in 2013.[8][14]

In 2023, he was named the Chief Scientist for Hardware at Google Quantum AI.[6] In 2024, he moved to the University of California, Santa Barbara to serve as Professor of Physics.[3]

Recognition

In 1970, Michel Devoret received the Prix de la Couronne française, an award recognizing young French researchers.[25]

Awards

Year Organization Award Citation Ref.
1991 France French Academy of Sciences Ampère Prize[lower-alpha 1] — [26]
1995 Netherlands Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences Descartes–Huygens Prize — [27]
2004 France European Physical Society EPS Europhysics Prize[lower-alpha 2] "For the realisation and demonstration of the quantum bit concept based on superconducting circuits." [28]
2013 Canada Centre for Quantum Information and Quantum Control John Stewart Bell Prize[lower-alpha 3] — [29]
2014 United States Duke University Fritz London Memorial Prize[lower-alpha 4] "In recognition of fundamental and pioneering experimental advances in quantum control, quantum information processing and quantum optics with superconducting qubits and microwave photons." [30]
2016 Finland Aalto University Olli V. Lounasmaa Memorial Prize "For his pioneering investigations and applications of macroscopic quantum phenomena at low temperatures." [31]
2021 China Micius Quantum Foundation Micius Quantum Prize[lower-alpha 5] "For their leading roles in pioneering superconducting quantum circuits and qubits." [32]
2024 United States National Academy of Sciences Comstock Prize in Physics[lower-alpha 3] — [33]
2025 Sweden Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences Nobel Prize in Physics[lower-alpha 6] "For the discovery of macroscopic quantum mechanical tunnelling and energy quantisation in an electric circuit." [7][34]

Memberships

Year Organization Type Ref.
2003 United States American Academy of Arts and Sciences Member [35]
2007 France French Academy of Sciences Member [36]
2023 United States National Academy of Sciences Member [37]

Chivalric titles

Year Head of state Title Ref.
2008 France Nicolas Sarkozy Knight of the Legion of Honour [38]

Notes

  1. ↑ Shared with Daniel Esteve.
  2. ↑ Shared with Daniel Esteve, Johan Mooij, and Yasunobu Nakamura.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Shared with Robert J. Schoelkopf.
  4. ↑ Shared with John M. Martinis and Robert J. Schoelkopf.
  5. ↑ Shared with John Clarke and Yasunobu Nakamura.
  6. ↑ Shared with John Clarke and John M. Martinis.

References

  1. ↑ "Michel Devoret" (in fr). https://theses.fr/032350589. 
  2. ↑ "PRIX NOBEL DE PHYSIQUE 2025 : Parcours des lauréats" (in fr-FR). 2025-10-21. https://www.universalis.fr/encyclopedie/prix-nobel-de-physique-2025/3-parcours-des-laureats/. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Michel Devoret | Department of Physics | UC Santa Barbara". https://www.physics.ucsb.edu/people/michel-devoret. 
  4. ↑ "Michel Devoret – Andrew D. White Professors-at-Large Program" (in en-US). https://adwhiteprofessors.cornell.edu/professors-at-large/michel-devoret/. 
  5. ↑ "Michel Devoret" (in en). https://engineering.yale.edu/research-and-faculty/faculty-directory/michel-devoret. 
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Googler Michel Devoret awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics" (in en). https://blog.google/inside-google/company-announcements/googler-michel-devoret-awarded-the-nobel-prize-in-physics/. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Physics Nobel Prize (7 October 2025). Announcement of the 2025 Nobel Prize in Physics. Retrieved 7 October 2025 – via YouTube.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 "Michel Devoret". Collège de France. https://www.college-de-france.fr/en/chair/michel-devoret-mesoscopic-physics-statutory-chair/biography. 
  9. ↑ "Nobel Prize in Physics 2025" (in en-US). https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/2025/devoret/facts/. 
  10. ↑ Zierler, David (April 7, 2021). "Devoret, Michel on 2021 April 7.". https://repository.aip.org/node/129778. 
  11. ↑ "Michel H. Devoret". Encyclopædia Britannica. 2026-01-01. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Michel-H-Devoret. Retrieved 2026-06-14. 
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Hassinger, Sebastian (11 September 2024) (in en). The New Quantum Era. O'Reilly Media, Inc.. ISBN 978-1-0981-4938-3. https://books.google.com/books?id=cE8hEQAAQBAJ&dq=martinis+phd+%22advisor%22+clarke+devoret&pg=PA113. 
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Abragam, A. (2000) (in fr). De la physique avant toute chose. Odile Jacob. ISBN 978-2-7381-9064-2. https://books.google.com/books?id=WNdHAwAAQBAJ&dq=michel+devoret+neil+sullivan+abragam&pg=PA255. 
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 "2025 Nobel Prize Resources" (in en). https://www.aip.org/nobel-prize. 
  15. ↑ Mooij, Hans (1 December 2004). "Superconducting quantum bits" (in en-GB). https://physicsworld.com/superconducting-quantum-bits/. 
  16. ↑ "The story of a research group at the origin of nan and quantum science in Delft. 1971-2013". 2022. https://qutech.nl/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Hans-Mooij-QT.pdf. 
  17. ↑ "Yale's Michel H. Devoret wins 2025 Nobel Prize in Physics | Yale News" (in en). 7 October 2025. https://news.yale.edu/2025/10/07/yales-michel-h-devoret-wins-2025-nobel-prize-physics. 
  18. ↑ Elsayyid, Joseph (6 February 2025). "Yale Quantum Institute marks ten years" (in en). https://yaledailynews.com/blog/2025/02/05/yale-quantum-institute-marks-ten-years/. 
  19. ↑ Manucharyan, Vladimir E.; Koch, Jens; Glazman, Leonid I.; Devoret, Michel H. (2 October 2009). "Fluxonium: single cooper-pair circuit free of charge offsets". Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) 326 (5949): 113–116. doi:10.1126/science.1175552. PMID 19797655. Bibcode: 2009Sci...326..113M. https://www.science.org/doi/abs/10.1126/science.1175552. 
  20. ↑ Roy, Ananda; Devoret, Michel (July 2018). "Quantum-limited parametric amplification with Josephson circuits in the regime of pump depletion". Phys. Rev. B (American Physical Society) 98 (4). doi:10.1103/PhysRevB.98.045405. Bibcode: 2018PhRvB..98d5405R. https://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevB.98.045405. 
  21. ↑ "Yale-designed amplifier pushes the boundary of quantum physics". Yale University. May 5, 2010. https://news.yale.edu/2010/05/05/yale-designed-amplifier-pushes-boundary-quantum-physics. 
  22. ↑ Dumé, Isabelle (June 7, 2019). "To catch a quantum jump". https://physicsworld.com/a/to-catch-a-quantum-jump/. 
  23. ↑ "From atoms to quantum machines". https://www.college-de-france.fr/en/agenda/opening-lecture/from-atoms-to-quantum-machines/from-atoms-to-quantum-machines. 
  24. ↑ "Michel Devoret, De l'atome aux machines quantiques". La Lettre du Collège de France (24). December 2008. https://journals.openedition.org/lettre-cdf/672?lang=en. 
  25. ↑ Regley, Martin (October 7, 2025). "Nobel de physique : le Français Michel Devoret récompensé avec le Britannique John Clarke et l'Américain John Martinis". Paris Match. https://www.parismatch.com/actu/sciences/le-physicien-francais-michel-devoret-prix-nobel-de-physique-pour-ses-travaux-sur-la-mecanique-quantique-258218. 
  26. ↑ "40 ans du Prix Ampère" (in fr). https://www.academie-sciences.fr/pdf/prix/ampere_181016.pdf. 
  27. ↑ "Prix Descartes-Huygens/Descartes-Huygensprijs" (in fr). https://www.academie-sciences.fr/pdf/prix/PrixDH_laureats.pdf. 
  28. ↑ "EPS Europhysics Prize". https://www.eps.org/members/group_content_view.asp?group=85187&id=554142. 
  29. ↑ "Michel Devoret and Robert Schoelkopf". http://cqiqc.physics.utoronto.ca/bell_prize/devoret_schoelkopf.html. 
  30. ↑ "Fritz London Memorial Prize". https://physics.duke.edu/fritz-london-memorial-prize. 
  31. ↑ "Olli V. Lounasmaa Memorial Prize 2016 awarded to Michel Devoret". 2016-08-16. https://www.aalto.fi/en/news/olli-v-lounasmaa-memorial-prize-2016-awarded-to-michel-devoret. 
  32. ↑ "Laureates". http://www.miciusprize.org/index/lists/003004. 
  33. ↑ "Select Prizes and Awards to Members". https://www.amacad.org/bulletin/spring-2024/noteworthy. 
  34. ↑ The ID "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q140042378%22 is unknown to the system. Please use a valid entity ID.
  35. ↑ "Michel Henri Devoret". https://www.amacad.org/person/michel-henri-devoret. 
  36. ↑ "Michel Devoret" (in fr). https://www.academie-sciences.fr/michel-devoret. 
  37. ↑ "Michel H. Devoret". https://www.nasonline.org/directory-entry/michel-h-devoret-gj5exl/. 
  38. ↑ "Décret du 11 juillet 2008 portant promotion et nomination". https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/jorf/id/JORFTEXT000019160503. 

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