Th
Laboratoire de Physique des Solides
(Laboratory of Solid State Physics) is a research institute of the

Paris-Saclay University Paris-Saclay University (french: Université Paris-Saclay) is a public research university based in Paris, France. It is one of the 13 prestigious universities that emerged from the division of the University of Paris, also known as the Sorbonne ...

, associated to the National Center of Scientific Research (

CNRS The French National Centre for Scientific Research (french: link=no, Centre national de la recherche scientifique, CNRS) is the French state research organisation and is the largest fundamental science agency in Europe. In 2016, it employed 31,63 ...

) as a joint research unit. It is located in Orsay, France, about 25 km southwest of Paris.

Research

The physics of condensed matter is addressed in all its diversity, but the current activities can be loosely divided into three main topics, each one involving about thirty permanent researchers: * New electronic states of matter * Physical phenomena with reduced dimensions * Soft matter and physics-biology interface Topic 1: theoretical and experimental studies, related to the properties of correlated fermions (

superconductivity Superconductivity is a set of physical properties observed in certain materials where electrical resistance vanishes and magnetic flux fields are expelled from the material. Any material exhibiting these properties is a superconductor. Unlik ...

magnetism Magnetism is the class of physical attributes that are mediated by a magnetic field, which refers to the capacity to induce attractive and repulsive phenomena in other entities. Electric currents and the magnetic moments of elementary particle ...

, metal–insulator transition, and so on). Research fields variate from low dimension conductors and superconductivity to Quantum Hall effects and

Kondo effect In physics, the Kondo effect describes the scattering of conduction electrons in a metal due to magnetic impurities, resulting in a characteristic change i.e. a minimum in electrical resistivity with temperature. The cause of the effect was fir ...

and heavy fermions. Topic 2: studies related to “ nanosciences”, broadly speaking. They are approached from the point of view of fundamental properties, and cover the situation when the size of an object becomes comparable to certain characteristic scales ( coherence length, mean free path, etc.). Among the research fields there are the

thermodynamics of nanostructures As the devices continue to shrink further into the sub-100 nm range following the trend predicted by Moore’s law, the topic of thermal properties and transport in such nanoscale devices becomes increasingly important. Display of great pot ...

, the magnetization dynamics of

magnetic materials A magnet is a material or object that produces a magnetic field. This magnetic field is invisible but is responsible for the most notable property of a magnet: a force that pulls on other ferromagnetic materials, such as iron, steel, nickel, ...

, the (quantum) electronic properties at low temperatures and others. Used physical techniques: low-energy electron diffraction, high-energy electron spectroscopy and

microscopy Microscopy is the technical field of using microscopes to view objects and areas of objects that cannot be seen with the naked eye (objects that are not within the resolution range of the normal eye). There are three well-known branches of mi ...

, X-Ray scattering, ion desorption by impact of very low energy electrons, and optical microscopy. Topic 3: studies of “soft matter” including biological systems. Topics range from complex systems to

living tissues In biology, tissue is a biological organizational level between cells and a complete organ. A tissue is an ensemble of similar cells and their extracellular matrix from the same origin that together carry out a specific function. Organs are th ...

, from liquid crystals to foams, passing through

polymers A polymer (; Greek ''poly-'', "many" + '' -mer'', "part") is a substance or material consisting of very large molecules called macromolecules, composed of many repeating subunits. Due to their broad spectrum of properties, both synthetic an ...

or granular systems. These studies are often done at the interface with physical chemistry and biology. For studying scientists use theoretical and

numerical analysis Numerical analysis is the study of algorithms that use numerical approximation (as opposed to symbolic manipulations) for the problems of mathematical analysis (as distinguished from discrete mathematics). It is the study of numerical methods th ...

and modelizations.

Teaching

The faculty (but also the CNRS researchers) are actively involved in various undergraduate and graduate courses and programs aimed at students of the Orsay and Paris universities and at students of engineering schools (“Grandes Écoles”). The laboratory hosts a graduate program leading to a degree in solid state physics: the “Physics of Condensed Matter” master, common to the Paris VI, VII and XI universities, to the École Normale Supérieure and to the École Polytechnique. More generally, research and technical training is a major concern of the laboratory, which, besides PhD students, hosts a large number of interns at many levels.

Outreach

The laboratory hosts a "Physics reimagined" research team entirely dedicated to innovating the way modern physics is taught for general public. Collaborating with designers, museums and students, the team creates different tools, such as 3D animations, science graphs, folding hands-on and project about quantum physics as seen by designers, that help simplify understanding of complex areas of physics. "Physics reimagined" invited illustrator Heloise Chochois to create the comic about how the life of a physicist looks inside. Among other things, the team engages in research activities related to the

science communication Science communication is the practice of informing, educating, raising awareness of science-related topics, and increasing the sense of wonder about scientific discoveries and arguments. Science communicators and audiences are ambiguously def ...

interdisciplinarity Interdisciplinarity or interdisciplinary studies involves the combination of multiple academic disciplines into one activity (e.g., a research project). It draws knowledge from several other fields like sociology, anthropology, psychology, e ...

and innovative pedagogies. Other major contributions are the involvement in large-scale actions such as: * 2011, Year of Supraconductivity * 2014, International Year of Cristallography

History

The Laboratory of Solid State Physics was founded by André Guinier,

Jacques Friedel Jacques Friedel ForMemRS (; 11 February 1921 – 27 August 2014) was a French physicist and material scientist. Education Friedel attended the Cours Hattemer, a private school. He studied at the École Polytechnique from 1944 to 1946, and the ...

and

Raimond Castaing Raimond Bernard René Castaing (December 28, 1921 – April 10, 1998), also spelt as Raymond Castaing, was a French solid state physicist and inventor of various materials characterization methods. He was the founder of the French school of microa ...

in 1959 on the Orsay campus. The laboratory had been based in building 210, built for the École Normale, until 1970. Then the LPS was moved to building 510 on the Moulon plateau that it still occupies. In 1966 the laboratory was part of the Centre de la Recherche Scientifique (

). Three founders of the laboratory with Pierre-Gilles have established and developed there three research features that are still presented: reach a relation between material properties and the problems of matter organization, couple experiment with theory and develop physical instrumentation for answering these questions. French physict Albert Fert received from the

King of Sweden The monarchy of Sweden is the monarchical head of state of Sweden,See the #IOG, Instrument of Government, Chapter 1, Article 5. which is a constitutional monarchy, constitutional and hereditary monarchy with a parliamentary system.Parliamentary ...

the medal and diplomas of the

Physics Nobel Prize ) , image = Nobel Prize.png , alt = A golden medallion with an embossed image of a bearded man facing left in profile. To the left of the man is the text "ALFR•" then "NOBEL", and on the right, the text (smaller) "NAT•" then " ...

on the 10th December 2007. The award was for discovering the giant magnetoresistance at the Laboratoire de Physique des Solides. The work had an impact on electronics created a new form of it- spintronics.

Notes

References

* * {{authority control Research institutes in France Research institutes established in 1959 1959 establishments in France Paris-Saclay University Academic staff of Paris-Saclay University