Using ultra-fast laser beams, a team from the Irradiated Solids Laboratory (LSI*) has designed an experiment that allows both the creation of nanometric cavities in metal films and their study using several advanced microscopy techniques. The results have been published in the journal Physical Review Letters (PRL).
For Science Day 2025, École Polytechnique paid tribute to women. Four female scientists from l’X recounted their career journeys and shared their passion with secondary school students. Take a look back at this inspiring event!
Anna Korba, Vignesh Kannan, Thomas Debris-Alazard, and Alejandro Alvarez Laguna have just been awarded Starting Grants from the European Research Council (ERC). These grants enable young researchers to set up research teams working on cutting-edge topics.
A publication by researchers at the Irradiated Solids Laboratory (LSI*) has just been awarded the Brunauer Prize by the American Ceramic Society. The researchers succeeded in isolating and studying the structure and reactivity of a concrete mineral to demonstrate its role in the problem of concrete degradation in sulfated environments. This problem directly affects the durability of buildings.
An international team has published a study in the journal Nature analyzing how the quantum phenomenon of superfluorescence appears in perovskite materials. The Irradiated Solids Laboratory (LSI*) is involved, thanks in particular to the work of Antonia Ghita, a former student of École polytechnique's Bachelor's program.
Created in January 2025 by Thales, world leader in high-power lasers, GenF aims to develop and industrialize a process for creating a new, safe, abundant, inexpensive and non-polluting form of energy using the inertial confinement nuclear fusion process. The inauguration of its premises in Le Barp, south of Bordeaux, was attended by representatives of the various stakeholders involved.
The year 2025 has been proclaimed International Year of Quantum Science and Technology by the United Nations. In the 20th century, quantum mechanics radically changed the way we think about the physical world. Today, quantum physics is in the midst of a renaissance that is opening up new and unexpected applications. Laurent Sanchez-Palencia, Director of Research at the Center for Theoretical Physics (CPHT*) and Deputy Director of the Quantum-Saclay center, gives us an overview of this “second quantum revolution”.
Operated by École polytechnique and CNRS, Apollon is one of the few facilities in the world with multiple laser beams whose power exceeds one petawatt (one million billion watts). Take a behind-the-scenes look at this infrastructure and the fundamental research being carried out there.
Winner of the 2018 Nobel Prize in Physics, Donna Strickland presented her current research work on ultrashort laser pulses and multi-frequency Raman generation processes.
The École polytechnique and the Fondation de l' École polytechnique are renewing the “Space: sciences and challenges of the space sector” teaching chair, with the support of ArianeGroup and Safran. This program, led by Pascal Chabert, initially launched in 2019, contributes to teaching activities and student projects around space, and to the École polytechnique Student Space Center (CSEP).
École Polytechnique, Inria, CNRS and Bañulsdesign have joined forces to launch the MATritime joint laboratory, with funding from the French National Research Agency. The aim is to develop computational and statistical tools that will provide the sea shipping industry with the tools for more sustainable boat design and operation.
Newly arrived at the Laboratory of Condensed Matter for Physics, Clément Livache conducts research on quantum dots, semiconductor nanocrystals whose light absorption and emission properties can be controlled. These are among the innovative materials that the interdisciplinary center Materials for Society (M4S) intends to promote.
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