A new collective book on liquid crystals
The story of liquid crystals is that of transgression of frontiers and of breaking of common beliefs. Indeed, liquid crystals were discovered by a biochemist, Friedrich Reinitzer, who shared his …
Local structure and dynamics of dense colloidal systems – 2020 Saint-Gobain prize
Glasses are ubiquitous materials present in our daily life. They originate from the dynamical arrest of a fluid. If a fluid is cooled down or compressed sufficiently rapidly, it avoids …
Current noise at the atomic scale
Many interesting properties in condensed matter systems originate from interactions between electrons. Since these interactions usually take place on short time scales, a measurement of time-averaged properties is often missing …
Popularize and teach physics during the lockdown
The “Physics reimagined” team has been developing new ways of popularizing and teaching physics at LPS. The first lockdown in march 2020 was an opportunity for its members to test …
New artificial fibres made of inorganic nanotubes
Mankind’s relationship with fibres goes back thousands of years, but in the last century we have moved beyond natural plant and animal-based yarns (silk, wool) to develop stronger, more versatile …
Exploring the nanoworld in 3D
Imagine a cube on which light is projected by a flashlight. The cube reflects the light in a particular way, so simply spinning the cube or moving the flashlight makes …
Freek Massee is laureate of the bronze medal from CNRS
The Bronze Medal rewards the first works of researchers who are specialists in their field. This distinction represents an encouragement from the CNRS to pursue research that is already well …
Suppressing precession in magnetic materials accelerates their dynamics
Magnetic precession – the rotation of the magnetisation around an applied torque — seems an unavoidable obstacle to faster magnetic devices. Now, researchers at the LPS have shown that magnetic …
An ocean of microplastics tracked at the nanoscale
What is the fate of polymer debris in the ocean? Aging of polyethylene packaging after prolonged marine exposure as been tracked at the nanoscale. A recent work demonstrates that the …
Formation of the “splay-bend” nematic by the action of an electric field
The most common technology used nowadays in displays and screens is based on the properties of « nematic » liquid crystals. The existence of two new types of nematic liquid crystals was …