LabEx NanoSaclay

As an interdisciplinary laboratory of excellence in nanosciences and nanotechnologies, the LabEx NanoSaclay is coordinated by the Scientific Cooperation Foundation (FCS) of Campus Paris-Saclay. LabEx's calling is to make the various establishments collaborate closely enough with each other that they operate like a real laboratory. This is particularly true for NanoSaclay that is supported by the large academic and research institutions of the Campus (CNRS, Paris-Sud and Versailles-Saint-Quentin Universities, CEA, Ecole Polytechnique, Institut d'Optique Graduate School, Supélec, Ecole Centrale Paris, ENS Cachan, ONERA, INRIA, Synchrotron Soleil and also Thalès). This type of partnership within the LabEx is in theory more dynamic than any ANR or European project that would impose national and international associations, sometimes hard to manage, because it encourages dependence on local skills, which are very often excellent.

Officially started in April 2011, this LabEx NanoSaclay is one of the first six LabEx of the Saclay site.

This LabEx received a 12M€ global financing spread over an 8 year and a half period. It is coordinated by a management committee (its coordinator is Serge Palacin (CEA), coordination assistant is Lucie Krzaczkowski (CEA)), and it is supported by a steering committee of 20 scientists.

It is organised around three flagship projects, set for the first four years of the project:

- Quantum and spin-based nano-electronics: to understand and monitor the charge and the spin and their interactions at the nanoscale. The potential applications are ultra-sensitive magnetic sensors, hybrid architectures for information storage and ultra-low-energy computing.

- NanoPhotonics, nano-objects for energy control: to understand and control the interaction between light and matter (electrons, phonons...) at the nanoscale. The applications are in the telecommunications field, for the interconnections in optical chips and in the renewable energy domain.

NanoSaclay currently represents around 460 physicists, chemists and biologists from the Saclay site laboratories (76 research teams including those from IDA as LBPA, LPQM and PPSM). Furthermore, the LabEx NanoSaclay is supporting a chair as well as emerging and innovation projects that guarantee its dynamism and attractivity. It also intends to support training of the students of the Campus Paris-Saclay within the nanosciences issues.

The LabEx NanoSaclay organised, with the Institut d'Alembert, its annual event on 11th June, at ENS Cachan. This day provided the opportunity to review the progress made of LabEx, how it operates and its immediate future. The organization and results of the three major projects were presented, an assessment the training part was drawn up and the results from the other projects funded within the call of projects Emergence/Platform and Promotion were presented. Finally, we attended a lecture on nanos and society, the presentation of a book and the chair « Reliability of nanos ». The lectures are available on the NanoSaclay website:

http://nanosaclay.fr/Phocea/Vie_des_labos/News/index.php?id_news=81 

For further information: Mrs. Lucie Krzaczkowski (LabEx coordination assistant) - lucie.krzaczkowski@cea.fr - 01 69 08 51 25