Low Temperature Laboratory: Physics and Brain Research Units

Helsinki University of Technology

Director: Professor Mikko Paalanen
tel. +358 9 4512957
fax +358 9 4512969
paalanen(at)neuro.hut.fi

The main lines of research pursued at the Low Temperature Laboratory include ultra-low temperature physics, neuromagnetic brain research, nanophysics and cryoengineering.

The Low Temperature Laboratory is famous for its world records in low temperature. The major research topics in low temperature physics include superfluid 3He, quantum crystals and nuclear ordering in metals.

In brain research the Laboratory is a pioneer in the magnetoenchephalographic (MEG) method. It has developed a multichannel magnetometer that covers the whole head and that is used to locate brain functions on the cortex with high temporal and spatial resolution. MEG is used to study the functions of both healthy and diseased human brains during various tasks.

In nanophysics, small metallic components, smaller than one thousandth of the diameter of human hair, are manufactured and studied at low temperatures, where their properties are dominated by quantum phenomena. Practical applications of these devices are also under investigation.

The Laboratory has a personnel of around 90, who work in eleven research groups. The personnel includes 16 senior scientists (including eight professors and four docents), ten post-doctoral students, 25 post-graduate students, 10-15 students and 14 people in administrative and service jobs. The number of foreign visitors varies between 10 and 15 scientists.

Centre of Excellence pages