The members of the Institute of Physics of the University of Debrecen form a nationally and internationally recognized scientific workshop work at the University of Debrecen.
The Department of Experimental Physics is the most traditional department of physics at the University of Debrecen. The founder of the experimental physics school in Debrecen, Professor Sándor Szalay and E. Rutherford, made the department a recognized scientific workshop in the scientific world. Sándor Szalay and his student, the later head of the department, Gyula Csikai, made the famous neutrino rejection experiment, the results of which can be found in several scientific textbooks. As a continuation of the Szalay school, the department still conducts experimental physical research, although in accordance with the development of science, the expertise that provides the theoretical background for the evaluation of results obtained with complex experimental tools is also present. The department conducts world-class basic and applied research in the field of experimental atomic physics, primarily the properties of interacting ionized atoms and their interactions. Their experimental basis is the ECR ion source and the associated measuring equipment. X-ray analytical research should be mentioned among the atomic physics researches of the department.
Nuclear physics is a traditional area of research in the department. The most important sub-areas of this are the research of neutron-induced nuclear reactions, the study of nuclear fission and nuclear analysis. Based on the results of these, in the last two decades a laboratory for the safety control of nuclear power plants (mainly Paks Nuclear Power Plant Rt.) Has been established at the department, which has gained international recognition.
Particle physics is a relatively new field of research in the department, where research on fundamental interactions using international (CERN, Brookhaven) methods is carried out using experimental and theoretical methods. The department is actively involved in the ongoing detector construction (CMS) at CERN and in the evaluation of the results of previous experiments (OPAL, L3).
In collaboration with atomic physics research, solid-state physics research is also carried out at the department, focusing on the effects of radiation on the properties of thin films and the optoelectronic properties of materials.
The natural results of the experimental research are the application technology of electronic analog and digital circuits, measurement control, the use of digital signal processors, the development and application of processor-controlled measuring instruments.
The results of the above research are published in the best-known, high-impact journals of the profession, and these articles are cited many times in the literature, some of them outstandingly (more than a hundred).
The department is staffed by an academics (professor emeritus) and two MTA doctors (one university professor and the other scientific advisor). Most faculty members have PhD degrees. The two programs of the Doctoral School of Physics of the University of Debrecen are related to the department, the heads of the programs are the university professors of the department. Physics PhD (doctoral) school in all 5 accredited topics Atomic Physics, Nuclear Physics, Solid State Physics, Interdisciplinary Research, Particle Physics The department conducts research.
The department currently supports several OTKA, TéT, OM, IAEA, PHARE, ROP, RET applications.
The department has extensive international connections. IAEA (Wien), NIST, BNL, Purdue (USA), CERN (Switzerland), Aachen, Jülich (Germany), IRMM (Belgium).
The research infrastructure is provided by particle accelerators, neutron generators, alpha, gamma and X-ray spectrometry, beta and neutron detection, radioactive sources, multichannel amplitude and time analyzers, lasers, spectrophotometers, interferometers, thin film generation equipment. The department's computer lab is well-equipped, with well-established network access, and its own local network and web server. It has an electrical and electronic, mechanical workshop, which is essential for experimental work.