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The Indian Institute of Science (IISc) and Samsung Semiconductor India Research (SSIR) inaugurated a Quantum Research Lab on the IISc campus in Bengaluru on 15 October 2026. The facility is intended to give students and researchers hands-on access to quantum-hardware infrastructure while advancing work on qubits, cryogenic electronics, photonics, semiconductor materials and reliability.
What was inaugurated
The new facility is the result of the IISc–SSIR collaboration that IISc first announced publicly on 19 October 2023. SSIR is supporting the partnership through its corporate-social-responsibility programme. The inauguration establishes a dedicated research and training environment within IISc rather than announcing a standalone commercial quantum-computing product.
Its stated purpose is broad: technological innovation, manpower training and collaboration with national and international quantum-research institutions. The lab is also intended to help researchers from outside IISc who do not have access to capital-intensive equipment, subject to the facility’s access arrangements.
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Cryogenic electronics and qubit control
A central research area is the integration of cryogenic control chips with qubits. Quantum processors require extremely low temperatures and precise control signals. Bringing control electronics closer to the qubits can help researchers study the practical engineering challenges of scaling, wiring, signal delivery and device operation at cryogenic temperatures.
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Qubit characterisation
The lab’s scope includes characterising qubits: measuring how they behave, how consistently they operate and how errors or environmental effects influence their performance. Such measurements are essential before a quantum device can be engineered into a larger, more reliable system.
Single-photon sources and detectors
Researchers will also work on single-photon sources and detectors. These components are important to photonic quantum technologies, where individual photons carry or transmit quantum information. Developing and testing both sources and detectors links the laboratory’s work to quantum communication and photonic-device research as well as computing.
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Advanced materials and reliability
Additional work covers the integration of advanced semiconductor materials with quantum systems and research into quantum-technology reliability. Reliability studies address whether devices and components continue to perform predictably over repeated operation and under demanding environmental conditions—an engineering requirement for moving from laboratory demonstrations toward usable systems.
Who the lab is for
- IISc students: practical training on quantum devices, cryogenic systems, photonics and measurement methods.
- Faculty and IISc researchers: a shared setting for device experiments and interdisciplinary projects.
- Researchers from other institutions: potential access to infrastructure that may otherwise be too expensive to build independently.
- National and international collaborators: a base for joint projects, exchanges and technology-development partnerships.
The official description presents the lab as both a research centre and a workforce-development facility. That combination matters because quantum hardware needs specialists who can work across physics, electrical engineering, semiconductor processing, materials science and measurement.
How it fits India’s National Quantum Mission
The IISc lab sits within a larger national effort to develop domestic quantum hardware and semiconductor capability. Under the National Quantum Mission, an IISc Bengaluru facility is intended to fabricate quantum-computing chips using superconducting, photonic and spin-qubit approaches.
Those national fabrication plans are broader than the newly inaugurated IISc–SSIR laboratory. The new lab’s described activities emphasise research, characterisation, cryogenic control, photonics, materials integration, reliability and training. The National Quantum Mission facility is specifically described as a chip-fabrication hub, so the two efforts can be understood as complementary parts of an ecosystem rather than the same project.
| Aspect | IISc–SSIR Quantum Research Lab | National Quantum Mission IISc facility |
|---|---|---|
| Primary role | Research, training and collaboration | Quantum-chip fabrication and national infrastructure |
| Technical emphasis | Qubit characterisation, cryogenic electronics, single-photon sources and detectors, semiconductor-material integration and reliability | Superconducting, photonic and spin-qubit chip approaches |
| Access model | IISc students, faculty and researchers, with support for researchers from other institutions lacking capital-intensive infrastructure | National mission facility serving the wider domestic quantum programme |
| Stage of activity | Institutional research and hands-on training | Planned or established fabrication capability for quantum chips |
| Funding or sponsoring framework | Collaboration between IISc and SSIR, supported through Samsung CSR | National Quantum Mission funding |
What the ₹720 crore figure means
The Ministry of Science & Technology stated in 2025 that ₹720 crore was the expected total expenditure for the National Quantum Mission’s quantum-fabrication and central facilities, including the IISc facility. That amount applies to the broader national facilities programme. It is not a disclosed budget for the newly inaugurated IISc–SSIR lab, and the available announcements do not establish that this lab received the entire allocation.
Why the inauguration matters
Quantum research often stalls when students and smaller research groups cannot reach specialised cryogenic, photonic or semiconductor equipment. A shared facility can lower that barrier, provide training on systems that are difficult to duplicate, and connect device researchers with semiconductor and materials expertise.
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The lab also reflects a shift from isolated demonstrations toward integrated quantum engineering. Combining qubits with cryogenic control chips, photon-generation and detection hardware, advanced materials and reliability testing addresses the practical interfaces that determine whether a quantum system can be scaled.
Its long-term impact will depend on the projects conducted there, the number of researchers who gain access, the results produced with partner institutions and how effectively its work connects with India’s fabrication facilities. The inauguration establishes the infrastructure and collaboration; it does not by itself guarantee a particular processor design, commercial product or performance milestone.
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