Research involves

The study of ultra rapid technologies that could be used for the analysis and creation of new materials.

Research relevance

Will generate important benefits in the fields of microelectronics (screens, memories), photonics, nanotechnologies, telecommunications and biomedical imaging.

The Infinitely Rapid at the Service of the Infinitely Small

A femtosecond is 1015 times smaller than a second. For example, femtoseconds are used to measure the amount of time it takes the atom to complete its electronic orbit or the time of a molecular vibration. Having observed the infinitely small, we can now also refer to the infinitely rapid. Researchers who focus on the infinitely rapid are engaged in work that is at the frontier that separates the realm of the living and the realm of fundamental physics.

Jean-Claude Kieffer, a researcher at the Institut national de la recherche scientifique, has spent several years studying the sources of ultra short x-rays such as "femtosecond lasers." As a specialist in the interactions between lasers and matter, he has been credited with the invention of the world's fastest camera scanner, a camera that can be used by biologists to, for example, observe and control in real time the changes that occur in the realm of life that they are studying. His research group is considered to be at the forefront when it comes to producing ultra short x-ray impulses, and the tools produced by the group are used by many researchers in North America and Europe. Professor Kieffer is also a very able popular science writer who participates regularly in scientific broadcasts designed for the general public.

The overall objective of Dr. Kieffer's Chair will be to develop ultra rapid technologies that can be used for the analysis and creation of new materials. The research work carried out by his team will mostly benefit fields such as microelectronics (screens, memory), photonics, nanotechnologies, telecommunications and biomedical imaging. Given the strategic importance of these fields from an economic point of view and the numerous partnerships developed with the private sector by Dr. Kieffer over the past several years, his research should lead to important technology transfers to the private sector.