Acronyme du projet/ Acronym of the project

4.1.11.2Valorisation / Exploitation of results

X-LPMC has issued 13 patents during the last 5 years (full list in 7.2). Numerous contracts have been signed or are still alive between the X-LPMC teams and major French industrial companies (including StGobain, Thalès, Rhodia, Essilor, Schlumberger, Saft…).

For all its valorization activities, X-LPMC relies on the IP pool at X. X holds a company nursery, X-Technologie. 15 companies have been set up in the last 10 years linked to research carried out at X. The X-Technologie (X-Tech) company nursery currently hosts 6 small companies is a member of INCUBALLIANCE, a public incubator that has been in operation since early 2009.

4.1.11.3Enseignement superieur / Higher education

X-LPMC scientists are deeply involved in higher education, together with communication activities towards the society and young students.

• PhD level: 4 of us (2 CS, 1 EPS et 1 ECM) have the HdR and commonly act as Thesis Director

• Master Level: 8 of us are currently teaching at Master level in various Universities, in particular the Master NanoSciences at U. Paris XI and the Masters "Materials Sciences and Nano-Objects" at Paris VI and "Quantum devices and Nanosystems" at U. Paris VII.

• UnderGrad level: 4 of us are regularly teaching at Engineering Schools (Ecole Polytechnique, Supelec).

• Regular participation to the annual summer school organized by CNanoIdF and occasionally at international summer schools.

• Nano events:

• 
  Contribution to "Nuit des Chercheurs" (Large Audience event)
  

Project, in the framework of C-Nano, about a building a demo of Scanning Probe Microscopy to be presented in high schools

4.1.11.4Organisation / Organisation

X-LPMC is part of “Physics of Condensed Matter”, headed by F. Ozanam, which is one lab of Ecole Polytechnique Research Centre (in total there are 22 laboratories representing 640 staff researchers for a total of 1600 personals). X-LPMC belongs to the Physics department of the Research Centre, which incorporates fundamental and applied research, training through research in the Doctoral School, development and partnerships. The Research Centre aims to combine further study of the more fundamental aspects of research aimed at adding to our knowledge with the development of the major, more applied areas that will meet the scientific, technological and societal challenges of the 21st Century.
The LPMC laboratory is divided into 4 groups (Physics of Irregular systems (PIS), Solid State Chemistry (SC), Electrochemistry and thin films (ECM), Electrons, Photons, Surfaces (EPS)). 3 of them are involved in the X-LPMC partnership. All groups share all their equipments. Collaborations are greatly promoted through a common management of scientific policy and daily organization of the lab. Each team already demonstrated excellence in basic sciences and is successful in fund raising from local, national and international agencies. Within the last 4 years, more than 40 contracts, including industrial, ANR, CnanoIdF, RTRA Triangle de la Physique and EU.

All three groups have been quite successful in fund raising within the last 5 years: 9 ANR funded projects, 7 with the CnanoIdF.

4.1.12Partenaire 12/ Partner 12 : Laboratoire de Physique des Interfaces et des Couches Minces (LPICM) UMR7647

4.1.12.1Recherche et innovation / Research and innovation

LPICM is another of the 22 labs at Ecole Polytechnique, mainly devoted to materials science with a particular focus on semiconducting thin films for photovoltaics, development of polarimetric instrumentation and its use in nano-characterization, synthesis of carbon nanotubes/graphene and semiconductor nanowires. It has a strong commitment to applications in various industrial fields. The LPICM is associated with CNRS (UMR 7647).

X-LPICM joins three of the four teams (Silicon Nanomaterials for PV applications, Polarimetry and Applications, NanoMaterials and Devices) belonging to LPICM.

X-LPICM gathers 16 researchers (including 2 teaching researchers), 8,5 research engineers, 15 PhD students and 10 postdoctoral fellows.

Evaluation: X-LPICM was evaluated by AERES in 2008. Two teams were quoted A+ (SiPV and PolA), the third one (NoMaDe) was quoted A.

Excerpt of the report:" Le LPICM est un laboratoire très singulier dans le paysage national car il a toujours affiché une orientation de recherche vers les propriétés des matériaux en films minces à partir d’un très bon équilibre entre des recherches théoriques et des recherches expérimentales. Ainsi, pour mener à bien ces recherches, le laboratoire a toujours tenu à développer des plateformes expérimentales très flexibles qui permettent de mieux appréhender les problématiques de recherche. C’est pour cette raison que l’activité de recherche s’est historiquement orientée vers une double activité. L’une concernant les dépôts eux-mêmes et l’autre concernant les techniques d’instrumentation in situ afin de mieux comprendre les phénomènes physiques mis en jeu.

Ce souci constant de coupler la physique de la croissance des matériaux et les méthodes de caractérisation in situ a permis non seulement de progresser très vite sur le front des connaissances mais également sur celui de l’innovation car les plateformes expérimentales ont été transférées vers l’industrie.

Le laboratoire est très attractif non seulement au plan national mais surtout au plan international avec 20 nationalités présentes pour les doctorants et les post-doctorants. La production scientifique est excellente dans les revues et les conférences. Le comité a souligné l’excellence de l’activité d’innovation et de valorisation qui se concrétise non seulement par des brevets en grand nombre mais surtout par des exploitations de ces brevets."

High profile scientists:
ROCA y CABARROCAS, Pere (H = 29, 3303 citations); CNRS, DR2

Distinctions: Blondel Medal from SEETIC (2004), Innovation Prize from Ecole Polytechnique (2009).

Major publications (IF>7): 1 PRL

Other assessment points: Expert at OMNT (National Expertise Think Tank on NanoTechnologies), Energy Theme;
DREVILLON, Bernard (H = 33, 4181 citations); CNRS, DR High Class

Distinctions: CNRS Silver Medal

Major publications (IF>7): 1 NanoLett

Other assessment points: SPIE Fellow
COJOCARU, Costin Sorel (H = 11, 258 citations); CNRS, CR1

Major publications (IF>7): 1 NanoLett

Other: goup leader
MAURICE, Jean-Luc (H = 21, 1534 citations); CNRS, CR1

Major publications (IF>7): 1 Nature Mater, 2 PRL
DE MARTINO, Antonello (H =20, 1657 citations); CNRS, DR2

Major publications (IF>7): 1 PRL
Research activities: X-LPICM issued 213 publications in reviewed journals between 2006 and 2010, together with 31 patents. Among those publications: 1 Nature Mater, 1 NanoLett, 5 PRL. (see 7.2 for details)

16 PhD theses have been obtained within the same period. Among them, 14 new doctors already hold a permanent position and 2 hold a temporary position. 2 HdR were obtained during that period at X-LPICM.

Scientists from X-LPICM gave more than 30 invited lectures at national and international conferences during the past 5 years. (A partial list is given in 7.2)

X-LPICM teams have numerous internal and external collaborations, more particularly with industrial partners (7 current collaborations within the Campus Paris-Saclay within distinct laboratories, ca. 10 collaborations with research French labs)

Equipments: X-LPICM is a multidisciplinary lab which both synthesizes nano-objects (thin films, nanotubes, nanowires) and undergoes up-to-date characterization on devices built from them. As such, it holds a full set of scientific tools and facilities for designing, synthesizing and studying matter at the nanoscale.

Synthesis: 6 plasma CVD reactors for thin films synthesis, 4 CVD reactors dedicated to carbon nanotubes and semiconductor nanowires synthesis (Two of those installed at Thales R&T clean room facility).

Spectroscopy: µRaman spectroscopy, Near-field Raman spectroscopy, XPS/AES/UPS/LEED facility

Analysis: Spectroscopic Ellipsometry, Imaging Mueller polarimetry

Microscopy: SEM facility is available as well as TEM and AFM/EFM

Electrical measurements: one SAFEM facility that allows studying the electrical/field emission properties of individual nano-objects as well as a full in vacuum/controllable, microprobe electrical characterization bench.

Besides, X-LPICM is co-leader within the TEMPOS project and the IEED PV project, and partner within the Sens-City project.