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François Ducastelle sadly passed away last summer. An outstanding physicist, François had a profound impact on the many fields he covered: the electronic structure of metals and their alloys, the statistical physics of order-disorder and phase transitions, growth modes and spectroscopic properties of low-dimensional materials. 

In his honour, the LEM organizes a scientific day which will be held on 11 July in the heart of Paris at the Ecole des Mines de Paris where he graduated and has been teaching Solid State Physics for many years. The aim of this day will be to evoke François’ career and his contribution to Condensed Matter Physics over nearly 55 years of research. Memories will be recalled through scientific presentations given by researchers specialised in the different fields François left his mark on, and testimonies by young and not-so-young researchers with whom he has been working throughout his long career, and still was.

The day will thus be a balance between scientific and memorial aspects combining past and present science, testimonies, and companionship throughout his long career as a researcher.

List of invited speakers:

• Christophe Bichara (CINaM-Marseille, France)
• Didier Blavette (GPM-Rouen, France)
• Jean-Christophe Charlier (UCLouvain-Louvain, Belgium)
• Charles-Henri de Novion (SFP, France)
• Ralf Drautz (ICAMS-Bochum, Germany) (to be confirmed)
• Jean-Pierre Gaspard (Université de Liège-Liège, Belgium)
• François Gautier (IPCMS-Strasbourg, France)
• Denis Gratias (Chimie Paris-Paris, France)
• Jérôme Lagoute (MPQ-Paris, France)
• Philippe Lambin (Université de Namur-Namur, Belgium)
• David Le Bolloc’h (LPS-Orsay, France)
• Bernard Legrand (CEA-Saclay, France)
• Xavier Marie (LPCNO-Toulouse, France)
• Véronique Pierron-Bohnes (IPCMS-Strasbourg, France)
• Christian Ricolleau (MPQ-Paris, France)
• Ludger Wirtz (Université du Luxembourg-Luxembourg, Luxembourg)

You can find the program of the day on the following link and the flyer on the following one.

You can find the program of the day, the flyer and the list of participants. To join the Ecole des Mines de Paris, you will find all the information here.

For those who will not be able to attend, but who would like to participate virtually, a zoom connection will be possible via the following link:

The organising committee: Hakim Amara (LEM), Cyrille Barreteau (CEA), Alphonse Finel (LEM), Annick Loiseau (LEM) et Guy Tréglia (CINaM).

If you would like to participate, please contact Cyrille Barreteau indicating name/first name/laboratory and whether or not you would like to attend the buffet lunch.

For all practical questions, please contact Catherine Deutsch.

We are glad to announce that the abstract submission is now open for the first HOWDI meeting.

The HOWDI (van der Waals heterostructures of low dimensionality) research group gathers researchers from France and abroad whose investigations focus on the physical properties emerging in van der Waals assemblies. The objective of the GDR-IRN HOWDI is to initiate, sustain and cross-link research activity on graphene, other 2D materials and nanotubes. All information about the network can be found at: http://gdr-howdi.org/?lang=en

The meeting will be held in Dourdan (Paris area, France) on May 9-13 2022. The participants will be hosted in “Le Domaine du Normont” holiday village for the entire duration of the event. Invited talks, tutorials, contributing talks, poster sessions, and social events are scheduled. All information about the meeting can be found at https://howdi2022.sciencesconf.org/.

Local contact: Lorenzo Sponza

From 12 to 15 October 2021,  LEM staff and some guest researchers presented their research activities during the “laboratory days”.  In a period where smart working is becoming increasingly important, the main objectives of this seminar were to strengthen scientific interactions between lab members and the cohesion of the laboratory. Alternating scientific and technical presentations, round tables and moments of conviviality, the 2021 edition allowed the staff of the laboratory to strengthen their links in a sunny place and in a good mood!

The image “The Spaghetti incident” by Riccardo Gatti and Laurent Korzeczek, selected for the “Proof by image”  2021 competition organized by the CNRS. This image from a numerical simulation illustrates a microstructure of dislocations developing inside a copper sample due to the opening of a crack. It shows the important role of numerical simulations in the understanding and prediction of the collective behavior of these defects associated with the deformation of materials subjected to mechanical and / or thermal stresses.

The twenty selected images of the 2021 competition chosen by the jury composed of image professionals and scientists are available here.

Congratulations to Étienne Carré for winning the ONERA 2021 thesis prize in the “Materials and Structures” field. This prize, awarded each year by senior ONERA researchers, aims to encourage future researchers on the path to excellence and to recognize remarkable work. Etienne’s presentation entitled “Infrared luminescence based on black phosphorus” is available here (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIL6nHMUmLM&t=7s). His work is carried out within the framework of the ANR17-CE24-0023 EPOS-BP research project involving the LEM (UMR ONERA / CNRS), GEMaC (UMR UVSQ / CNRS), UMPhy (UMR THALES / CNRS) and THALES TRT laboratories.

It is with great sadness that we have learned of the sudden death of our colleague François Ducastelle, which happened on Friday 2 July 2021.

François joined ONERA in 1965 as a trainee and was hired as junior scientist in 1968. He prepared his two theses and spent his entire career as a researcher. From 1981 to 1997, he was head of the Solid State Physics Division in the Materials Directorate (OM), then was deputy director of the LEM until his emeritus in 2008.

An outstanding physicist, François has had a profound impact on the many disciplinary fields he has tackled: the electronic structure of metals and their alloys, the statistical physics of order-disorder and phase transitions, growth modes and spectroscopic properties of low-dimensional materials. 

Through the extensive nature of his work, his involvement in the management of the LEM and his enthusiasm for research, François has made a major contribution to shaping the laboratory of today and to its influence.     

All those who have worked with François, from the doctoral students he trained to the many colleagues he guided and who came to him for advice and enlightenment, testify to the wide range of his knowledge, the depth of his analysis, the power and elegance of his reasoning, his teaching skills and his benevolence.

Always active and involved in numerous projects, François maintained a dynamic of collective research and numerous interactions with the international scientific community.  He also interacted with young researchers on a daily basis, with great humility and humanity.

A great physicist has passed away. His memory and his teaching remain.

His death leaves a lot of sadness and a big void in the laboratory.

Our thoughts are with his family and friends, to whom we offer our sincere condolences.

Mathieu Fèvre (Mathieu.Fevre@onera.fr) is the point of contact for information about the funeral and for expressions of support to his family.

Testimonies, tributes and memories of our colleague François can be posted at the following link : https://hommage.uneroseblanche.fr/odoklp