INL and UMinho launch joint laboratory – the Quanta Lab
July 1, 2016
The INL – International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory joined forces with the University of Minho to create a joint laboratory. The Quanta Lab is devoted to research and training on Quantum Materials and Quantum Technologies, two cutting edge research areas that address several of the most important and fundamental questions in Materials Science and Condensed Matter Physics, and hold the promise of a new wave of technological innovations that is known as the second quantum revolution.
The creation of the new centre was officially announced on July 1, 2016. The Director-General of INL, Lars Montelius, and the Rector of the University of Minho, António Cunha, signed the agreement in a ceremony presided over by the Portuguese Minister of Science, Technology and Higher Education, Manuel Heitor.
On the occasion, the German physicist Prof. Jorg Wrachtrup (University of Stuttgart) delivered a colloquium on the topic “Quantum sensors: From basic science to prototypes”.
“The field of quantum materials aims to explore the emergent properties, such as superconductivity, magnetism and exact quantisation of conductance, that arise in many systems as a result of competing interactions and also their so-called topological properties. Essential in this endeavour will be the collaboration between physicists, chemists, biologists, engineers, experimentalists, theorists and computer scientists altogether”, said Joaquín Fernandez-Rossier, Principal Investigator and leader of the project at INL.
