April fool ?

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We are delighted to announce, that after a few years of hard experimental work, our paper on the influence of strong coupling on the critical temperature of a superconductor has been eventually published, in a special issue of the Journal of Chemical Physics dealing with “Polaritonics for next generation materials”. And this is not an April fool despite its publication date, the first of April… This paper summarizes our attempts to modify the critical temperature of a superconductor, the Rb3C60, by using the cooperative coupling between one of its vibrational mode with a strong vibration of a polymer, and surface plasmons mode. Despite the numerous experimental issues due to the complexity of this system and of those measurements, we observed that for most of the samples we prepared, the Tc of the Rb3C60 was increasing from 30K to 45K. Our theorists colleagues have developed a simple model based on an enhancement of the electron-phonon coupling to explain those results. We thank all the collaborators who took part to the success of this project. Congratulations to all !

Source : The Journal of Chemical Physics

 

Welcome Annie !

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Since two weeks, we have the pleasure to welcome Annie Cleetus, from Kerala, India. She got her PhD from Ariel University in Israel, where she focused on exploring electro-catalysts for ammonia oxidation. Her research involved various electrochemical and in situ-characterization techniques to understand the catalyst`s activity, stability and selectivity. Prior to that she majored in Chemistry after a combined BS-MS from IISER Bhopal, India where she also undertook projects in crystallography, mainly in solving crystal structures of organic molecules. She will be working on a project in collaboration with the group of Pr. Petra Hellwig, at the Faculty of Chemistry, Strasbourg, to develop electrochemical approaches towards strong coupling for investigating the reactivity of redox active molecules.

Welcome Hugo !

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The team is really growing nowadays and our youngest member is now Hugo Le Doze, master 2 student in the specialty Physics of Quantum and Soft Condensed Matter (PhyQS). He will explore the secrets of stochastic thermodynamics and continue to set up an optical trap in vacuum, working in close relation with Antoine Tartar and Kaina Diniz. Welcome to him !

Welcome Malay !

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We have the pleasure to welcome a new postdoctoral researcher since two weeks, Malay Mahato. Malay is originated from Purulia, a district in West Bengal, India. He completed his PhD at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras in 2023. His research was then focusing on understanding the charge transfer dynamics in a quantum dot-based donor-acceptor system using transient absorption techniques. Subsequently he moved to Indian Institute of Science (IISC) Bangalore, in the group of Dr Anoop Thomas, for a first postdoctoral position where he worked on polaritonic chemistry.

Good things come in three

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We will have another visitor from Tuesday 25 to Thursday 27, Dima Boriskovsky  from Tel Aviv University. He will give a seminar on Wednesday, February 26th at 14:00 am at ISIS on the Esplanade campus, which you are all welcome to attend.

 

 

Winter visitors

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Since almost two weeks, we have the pleasure to welcome back Luis Pires, now assistant professor at the Federal University of Viçosa (Brazil), for one month in the lab. And next week, Atef Shalabney, from Braude College (Karmiel, Israel), will also come back for a shorter one week stay. Who else is missing the lab and Strasbourg winter cold ?

 

Bye bye Shahana !

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We had a farewell dinner last monday to say good bye to Shahana Nizar, who was among us since more than 4 years. After a phD and a postdoc in the lab, she will start a second postdoc in March, in the group of Anna Painelli in Parma University. All the best Shahana !


Welcome Tamaghna !

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Last week, our new postdoc Tamaghna Chowdury arrived just on time to enjoy the cold in Strasbourg. Tamaghna comes from Chittaranjan, a railway township in West Bengal, India. He completed his Bachelor of Science with Honors in Physics from Jadavpur University, Kolkata, in 2017. Subsequently, he completed his integrated Master’s and PhD in Physics at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Pune, Maharashtra, in November 2024. His PhD thesis focused on the modulation of the optoelectronic properties of 2D materials through strain, twist, and dielectric engineering. He will be working half time here and half time with the group of Stéphane Berciaud in IPCMS.

End of the year

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We celebrated the end of the year all together last week : our indian students cooked delicious chicken biryani and paneer curry, with raïta and chapatis. Others brought starters and desserts and we shared food and good mood at the 6th floor of ISIS, before the end of the year break.

Happy festive season to all our visitors, friends and collaborators around the world !

 

Visit of Pr Paulo Maia Neto

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Since the end of last week, Pr Paulo Maia Neto, from Physics Institute of Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) is back in Strasbourg for a one month stay, as last year, in the context of the CAPES COFECUB project we are sharing together.

Moreover, he will give a the seminar entitled

The Casimir Interaction in Electrolyte Solutions

on Thursday December 19th at 10.30 am, at ISIS (meeting room, ground floor). If you wish to meet him, don’t hesitate to contact Dr Cyriaque Genet.