Research

The campus of Bordeaux concentrates a rich environment of research units and recognized scientific expertise in laser and photonics, making it one of the leading French academic location in this field of study.

One of the top European engineering school in optics, the IOGS, is also located in Bordeaux, as well as state-of-the-art research infrastructures, such as the Bordeaux Imaging Center or the Laser MégaJoule in the CEA CESTA, and a local industrial network of more than 200 innovative firms.

The field of “Photonics” has been selected as one of the six European Key Enabling Technologies, due to its capacity to address some of the greatest revolutions of the 21st century. Photonics is an accelerator for different domains such as advanced manufacturing, ICT, energy, healthcare, security and environmental protection. This growing industry will reach a market of some €615 billion in 2020 but also requires a very high intensity of R&D.

In the Aquitaine Region, the installation of the €7B Laser MégaJoule infrastructure at CEA-CESTA was the driving force for the development of a vibrant industrial network. Its competitiveness cluster “Route des Lasers” gathers now more than 200 companies and 10 000 jobs, including a world leader for ultrafast lasers, Amplitude Systems.

Fields

Light generation, Manipulation and Detection

The generation, transport, manipulation, detection and use of light are at the heart of the multidisciplinary Science of Photonics. Today, Laser and photonics is not solely a driver for innovation in manufacturing; the photonic technologies, laser tools and process systems are themselves becoming products.

The “Development of laser systems” specialty will spotlight the knowledge of the fundamental processes inside a laser and the design of laser sources with the objective of training students to solve problems in laser physics and laser design.

The “Optical materials” specialty will enrich the knowledge in materials, materials chemistry as well as solid-state chemistry, with the objective of training students to  Photonics material design and advanced material’s optical characterizations.

The “Photonics, micro- & nano-optics” specialty will focus on different concepts which are applied to control light-matter interaction at the micro-&nano-scale, with the objective of training students to the Photonic nanomaterials/metamaterials/metasurfaces, Optical nano emitters and nanoantennas design.

The “Light and energy” specialty will introduce low-energy light sources, intelligent lighting controls and understanding of solar energy conversion, with the objective of training to advanced new energy conversion concepts, manufacturing and characterization of energy conversion devices.

The “Light detection” specialty will focus on advanced detection systems for sensing and imaging with the objective of training students to complex photodetection architectures design.

Extreme regime of light

The heralding of a new paradigm in the application of high power lasers is enabling a unique range of fundamental and applied sciences, and new technologies, including novel particle accelerators, light initiated nuclear reactions research, laboratory astrophysics, the condensed matter under high pressure, novel x-ray sources, and strong-field QED, amongst others. At the same time, the complementary development of Nanosciences and quantum physics has allowed making tremendous progress in the mastering of electronic excitations in nanostructured materials and devices and on the quantum properties of matter at ultra-low temperatures. Strong synergies are now expected from the mustering of both approaches to Extreme Regimes of Light. This specialty will require a good knowledge of mathematics, optics, electrodynamics, experimental physics and basics of quantum mechanics.  

Light imaging and biophotonics

Concepts in light imaging are often approached from the angle of methodology which reflects the duality of this broad field of science and engineering: the constant need for the development of new investigation methodologies for pushing the limits of current performances, and the smart application of state-of-the-art methods for specific (bio)applications.  This duality, however, requires the acquisition of common basic knowledge: a set of multidisciplinary skills in physics, chemistry and biology to understand and master the different aspects of light imaging.

In this specialization, students will benefit from an interdisciplinary approach to the teaching of nanosciences, spectroscopy, biolabeling, and microscopy, as well as the active manipulation of the biological matter by light. Students will have extensive training on advanced microscopies and spectroscopies in state of the art Bordeaux campus core facilities. Since bioimaging generates massive amounts of data, students will be trained to advanced computer science methods for data extracting, sorting and analyzing.

Updated on 14/10/2020

Contact

Light Sciences and Technologies Graduate Program
Université de Bordeaux

Institut d’Optique d’Aquitaine
Rue François Mitterrand
33405 Talence - France

Contact by email