Not even Europe’s top universities have a better quantum laboratory than the one at BME

“This cooling system produces temperatures 1 centigrade degree above absolute zero for our experiments with quantum circuits,” says Szabolcs Csonka, head of the Department of Physics, amidst the loud hum of the equipment. We are in the basement of Building F at BME, in the Faculty of Natural Sciences’ newly refurbished Quantum Electronics Laboratory, where, under the leadership of Szabolcs Csonk

During the refurbishment, not only were the premises – which had previously offered less than ideal conditions – spruced up, but the range of instruments was also significantly upgraded with the help of grant applications; furthermore, following an offer from BME, the cost of the refurbishment was covered by the utility costs budget. “We’ve now reached the point where we can work with equipment on a par with the quantum laboratories at Europe’s leading technical universities,” notes the head of department.a, András Halbritter and Péter Makk, the computer chips of the future are being developed.

Before the ribbon-cutting ceremony, Péter Makk takes the floor to explain why they need temperatures even lower than those found in outer space: superconductors operate within the 2x2-millimetre gold-plated chips, and in order for them to function as true superconductors – and for the quantum systems to retain the information stored within them – the system must be isolated from the outside world as much as possible.

Szabolcs Csonka (right)

András Halbritter adds that the 2025 Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to John Clarke, Michel H. Devoret and John M. Martinis specifically for their research into superconductors – for the discovery of the macroscopic quantum phenomena observed in them. Researchers at BME are planning to create new quantum bits in similar circuits in the quantum electronics laboratory, which will be more robust than the current ones.

The research conducted by the Neuromorphic Electronics research team led by András Halbritter is also related to a recent development connected to the 2024 Nobel Prize. John J. Hopfield and Geoffrey E. Hinton received the prize for their discoveries and inventions enabling machine learning with artificial neural networks – the members of the BME research team are constructing circuits for neural networks from artificial synapses, which will significantly reduce the energy demand in the field.

“The university provides the utility subsidy precisely so that researchers may apply with confidence. It is a great pleasure when a development project like this is completed, as it is clear that a great deal of hard work and scientific excellence has gone into it." 

– says Rector Hassan Charaf. He points out that there has been no campus development at BME for 50 years now, but that funding will be available for this next year, and the university will launch an internal call for applications for infrastructure development: “If a modernised laboratory cannot be accommodated in its current premises, the construction of a new building might even be an option.”

Gábor Takács, Péter Makk and Hassan Charaf

Péter Makk guides the participants of the inauguration ceremony around the laboratory, where, alongside the lecturers and doctoral students, second- and third-year students are also working, both from the physics and physics-engineering study programmes. "There is also a system here that can be considered unique; we have already published joint articles with Harvard, ETH Zurich, TU Delft, and many other leading universities based on the experiments conducted on it," mentions the deputy head of department.

A chip in Péter Makk's hand

In response to the Rector's question as to whether anything is still absent from the laboratory, Péter Makk replies that only the machines suitable for preparing the samples necessary for the research are missing. “Sample fabrication is currently being carried out in collaboration with the HUN-REN Centre for Energy Research, but in the long term, several of the university’s faculties could benefit from a nanofabrication infrastructure.”

gp