2023-10-07 17:15:44
In the large Ursulines hall, in Lannion, which hosts the Science Festival from Friday until Sunday at 6 p.m., all scientific fields are represented. The public flocks to the aisles to meet professional experts or experts from the associative world. However, following the Nobel Prize in Physics awarded to three specialists in photonics, including two Frenchmen, Anne L’Huillier and Pierre Agostini, all eyes converged on the photonics stand.
Four French Nobel Prizes in five years
There, enthusiasm dominates. After having put us, this week, in contact with Vénus Poulain, who is preparing a doctorate at the University of Anne L’Huillier, in Sweden, Thierry Chartier, teacher-researcher specializing in photonics at the National School of Applied Sciences and of technology (Enssat) of Lannion, welcomes this recognition: “It is stimulating, because following Alain Aspect in 2022 on quantum optics, having two French people rewarded on laser, it shows that it is a very promising science , both in terms of applications and on the job market. » If we add Gérard Mourou in 2018, there are even four Nobel Prizes in physics awarded to French people in this field in five years.
The holograms presented on the photonics student stand are three-dimensional photos captured by a laser. This is one of the laser applications, used to observe the extent to which photonics relies on the physical rules that govern light. (Le Télégramme/Morvan Léon)
An opinion shared by Gwenaëlle Lefeuvre, responsible for running the sectors at Photonics Bretagne, which brings together companies, research laboratories and schools specializing in photonics. The trained physicist connects fundamental research laboratories with companies that apply these discoveries: “It is a cutting-edge sector of European research, which produces products with high added value. »
The Nobel Prizes raise awareness of photonics, which is a young science, a bit like electronics in the 1950s.
Mathieu Jacquemet and Thierry Chartier work at Photonics Bretagne for the first, and at Enssat for the second. They salute the benefits brought by the Nobel Prizes to their activity, both in seeking funding and in popularizing the discipline. (Le Télégramme/Morvan Léon)
On the stands, we observe lasers which capture, for example, all the nuances of object colors, with such precision in measuring frequencies that even nuances invisible to the eye appear. A plus for contactless quality control of fragile products.
Making infrared visible
If the applications are spectacular in terms of data transmission and precision in the observation of matter below the size of the atom, with light moving faster than electrons, this is rarely seen. “Most photonics is done in wavelengths invisible to the naked eye,” emphasizes Valentine Gaudillat who, on her stand, explains the properties of light movement via different materials. To see infrared, the young woman has a simple method: via the lens of a smartphone camera, she makes the infrared light from a remote control visible.
Gwenaëlle Lefeuvre, from Photonics Bretagne, notably connects fundamental research laboratories and industrialists. She welcomes the success of the French, and Europe overall, in this booming sector. (Le Télégramme/Morvan Léon)
Valentine Gaudillat, who is preparing her doctorate at Enssat, is delighted with the award: “We are happy that it raises awareness of photonics, which is a young science, a bit like electronics in the 1950s! » Before listing the advances made possible by photonics in terms of medical imaging, tools for remote precision surgery or even with the promises of Lifi, a technology which will make it possible to broadcast internet data from light bulbs which light up our living rooms.
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