Group “BioMolecular Structures”

Group “BioMolecular Structures”

Contact : Michel Mons

Historically linked to the application of lasers to physical chemistry, the activity of the “BioMolecular Structure” group is focussed on the interaction of complex molecular systems with light, in particular, neutral flexible molecules and models of biomolecules, isolated in the gas phase. The general scientific objective is to document, through various laser spectroscopies and theoretical modeling, the interactions encountered in these systems, both in their ground and excited electronic states. One of the challenges is then to resolve the conformational, tautomeric, etc. complexity of these objects in order to document the role of the structure on their dynamic properties, in particular their electronic dynamics, through pump-probe type experiments. This program is achieved thanks to a strong synergy between experiment and theory, made possible by the simultaneous presence of these two skills within the team, made up of chemists and physicists.

Most of the activity is organized according to three key topics, related to the structure and electronic dynamics of flexible systems and biomolecules, and to a valorisation action.

Ion pairs
Peptides – Peptidomimetics
Excited state dynamics
Valorisation

The “BioMolecular Structures” team is located in building 522 of CEA Saclay. It maintains its own fleet of nanosecond lasers and uses the femtosecond / picosecond lasers of several facilities : LUCA / ATTOLAB at Saclay, CLUPS at Paris-Sud University as well as the SOLEIL Synchrotron. It also maintains its own fleet of workstations (~ 4 knots / 50 procs) and uses the national resources of the “Calcul Intensif ” (TGIR GENCI & CCRT-CEA).

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Membres

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Projets

  • ANR ASAP project (2024-2028)

    ANR ASAP project (2024-2028)

    The ASAP project proposes to explore the quantum properties of light produced by high-order harmonic generation. An optical frequency comb with high average power and a repetition rate of several tens of megahertz will be developed with the aim of producing a light source with unique properties in the extreme ultraviolet range Architecture of the…

  • ANR ATTOCOM project (2021-2024)

    ANR ATTOCOM project (2021-2024)

    HHG in semiconductor crystals High-order laser harmonic generation (HHG) in semiconductor crystals is a new source of short wavelength, ultrashort duration (femtosecond to attosecond) pulses at very high rates, enabling us to track ultrafast electronic dynamics in complex materials. Compared with HHG in gases, solid-state sources promise more advanced control and greater versatility of this…

  • ANR FemtoDose Project (2022-2026)

    ANR FemtoDose Project (2022-2026)

    Nanocoulomb femtosecond laser plasma gas pedals with plasma mirror injectors: high doses at very high dose rates In-vivo experiments have shown that healthy tissue (vs. diseased tissue) is much less sensitive to ionizing radiation when delivered in short pulses. This high-dose-rate radiotherapy (RT), also known as RT-FLASH, opens the way to highly innovative new medical…

  • ANR HELIMAG project

    ANR HELIMAG project

    Helical dichroism of magnetic structures High-order harmonic generation (HOGG) has recently made available light sources delivering femtosecond (fs) or attosecond (as) pulses, carrying spin angular momentum (SAM) or orbital angular momentum (OAM). The former are associated with circular polarization and carry unitary angular momentum (AM). The latter have wavefronts whose inclination rotates helically around the…

  • ANR NANOLITE project

    ANR NANOLITE project

    Laser platform for EUVmetrology Created in January 2020, the NANOLITE joint laboratory, funded by the French National Research Agency (ANR) and bringing together CEA and the company Imagine Optic, is developing original solutions for optical metrology at short wavelengths. The aim of the NanoLite joint laboratory is to bring together an academic laboratory with expertise…

  • ANR TOCYDYS project (2020-2024)

    ANR TOCYDYS project (2020-2024)

    The objectives of the TOCYDYS (Towards Optical CYcle DYnamics in Solids) project are as follows: – Carry out an ambitious experimental and theoretical research program on ultrafast dynamics on femtosecond and attosecond time scales, in the field of solid-state physics and laser-matter interaction. – Contribute to the sustainability and development of Equipex Attolab, whose funding…

  • CEFIPRA MultiDAM project

    CEFIPRA MultiDAM project

    Tailoring ultrashort light pulses is a promising way of investigating fundamental questions about ultrafast electronic dynamics in matter, with new technological applications to follow. The current project advances attosecond physics by tackling two major bottlenecks:(i) How to generate frequency-tunable attosecond XUV pulses carrying spin or orbital angular momentum? Tunability is crucial for probing resonant signatures…

  • CLOE project

    CLOE project

    Laser Crystals for Extreme Optics Cristal Laser and CEA Paris-Saclay have set up a platform bringing together original characterization instruments to refine understanding of ultraviolet aging phenomena in non-linear optical crystals, and improve the lifetime and performance of finished products. The CEA has brought together a wide range of lasers in a single, permanent platform,…

  • EPONA project (2021-2026)

    EPONA project (2021-2026)

    The aim of the EPONA project (BPI-FRANCE) is to study and demonstrate the purification of palladium from nuclear reactor fission products by laser isotope separation in atomic steam.

  • EURO-LABS (WP5) project

    EURO-LABS (WP5) project

    The EURO-LABS project aims to bring together 3 research communities in nuclear physics, gas pedal technologies and detectors for high-energy physics to address fundamental questions and technological challenges, through projects with a broad societal impact, promoting the sharing of knowledge between different scientific fields and strengthening Europe’s potential to successfully meet future challenges. The PHI…

  • iNanoTheRad project (2020-2025)

    iNanoTheRad project (2020-2025)

    The interdisciplinary center iNanoTheRad (Institute of Nanotechnologies and Radiation based Therapies) is an Interdisciplinary Object of the Université Paris-Saclay, validated in CoDirE in September 2021 by the Université Paris-Saclay. iNanoTheRad aims to position Université Paris-Saclay as a center of excellence in research, training and innovation dedicated to improving personalized cancer treatment by combining advanced nanotechnology…

  • Ion Pairs

    Ion Pairs

    Ion Pairs Ion pairs are ubiquitous in Nature, from sea water and aerosols, to living organisms. Being the very first step of crystallization of ionic species and influencing the properties of…

  • MultiScan 3D project (2021-2025)

    MultiScan 3D project (2021-2025)

    The European Multiscan 3D project aims to improve the control of illicit materials, particularly in shipping containers, using a 3D imaging technique based on X-ray tomography generated by braking radiation emitted by electrons created and accelerated by intense femtosecond laser beams. This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation…

  • Projet ERC Starting Grant SATTOC (2022-2028)

    Projet ERC Starting Grant SATTOC (2022-2028)

    The ERC Starting Grant SATTOC “Solution ATTOsecond Chemistry” project involves studying the chemical dynamics of solvated systems using state-of-the-art attosecond spectroscopy tools. Attosecond pulses, which can reach the X-ray range, excite electrons in the inner electronic layers of molecules, i.e. as close as possible to atomic nuclei. These excited states of matter are highly ephemeral,…

  • Projet OPTOlogic (2020-2024)

    Projet OPTOlogic (2020-2024)

    The aim of this project is to develop a new technology for energy-efficient logic operations based on the use of light-induced and light-controlled topology in two-dimensional materials. This will create a new technology platform that exploits the best aspects of topology, optoelectronics and quantum materials by combining: This project has received funding from the European…

  • SCiRQ project (2023-2027)

    SCiRQ project (2023-2027)

    The ANR-funded SCiRQ project aims to set up a quantum simulation platform based on circular Rydberg states of strontium. The project leader is Sébastien Gleyzes from the Laboratoire Kastler-Brossel and Collège de France, with LIDYL providing theoretical support.

  • TORNADO project (2023-2027)

    TORNADO project (2023-2027)

    Chiral light-matter interactions – PEPR LUMA : Moonshot TORNADO A multi-scale, multi-dimensional approach to chiral light-matter interactions to enhance chiroptical responses. The former are associated with circular polarization and carry unitary angular momentum (AM). The latter feature wavefronts whose inclination rotates helically around the axis of propagation, and carry any integer value of MA unit.…

  • TUNIFOLDS

    TUNIFOLDS

    TUNIFOLDS : Building blocks of foldamers in the gas phase Contacts M. Mons, V. Brenner This topic capitalizes on the team’s achievements and in particular its pioneering role in the laser…

Domaines Techniques

  • ATTOLab Platform

    ATTOLab Platform

    Ultrafast dynamics ATTOLab aims to establish an experimental laser platform for interdisciplinary studies of ultrafast dynamics – electronic and nuclear dynamics on femtosecond (10-15) and atto (10-18) second timescales – in gas-, condensed- and plasma-phase systems. Equipment of excellence ATTOLab was an Equipex project funded by the “Investissements d’Avenir 2011” program of the French National…

  • FLUME Platform

    FLUME Platform

    The FLUME (FLUorescence by Upconversion MEthod) platform is a special facility for obtaining time-resolved fluorescence spectra of condensed-phase molecules, enabling the study of molecular kinetics on the femtosecond timescale. The system is based on the fluorescence conversion technique. It uses a conventional Ti:S oscillator that produces ~100 femtosecond pulses at 800 nm, which are then…

  • Laser

    Laser

    The femtosecond laser facilities of the DRECAM offer to the national and european researchers, ultra short pulse duration and high intensity laser lines instrumented by numerous diagnostics. These…

  • Nanolight Platform

    Nanolight Platform

    The LIDYL Nanolight platform is located in an 85 m² laboratory on the CEA site at l’Orme des Merisiers. Based on a Ytterbium fiber laser with a 100 kHz repetition rate, pumping an OPCPA system (FASTLITE STARZZ), it delivers four femtosecond beam lines: These light lines, together with their ancillary equipment, are available for a…

  • SLIC: our support teams

    SLIC: our support teams

    The laser platforms and instrumentation developed and implemented at LIDYL are highly technical devices requiring high-quality technical support. This support role is grouped at LIDYL within the SLIC group. It includes the essential technical support needed to supply state-of-the-art lasers and manage laser platforms for internal (LIDYL) and external (national and international) users, the mechanical…

  • SOFOKLE Platform

    SOFOKLE Platform

    The Attophysics group manages the SOFOKLE laser chain, which delivers pulses at a rate of 3 kHz, wavelength 0.8 µm, duration 40 fs, and energy 700 µJ. A post-compression optical bench reduces the duration to 10 fs, with an output energy of 200 µJ. In addition to coulombic explosion and electron diffraction experiments, the laser…

  • Spectroscopy techniques

    Spectroscopy techniques

    Time-resolved absorption and fluorescence spectroscopy techniques to study living molecules The specificity of the DICO group lies in its use of high-performance time-resolved spectroscopy. Moreover, DNA, its constituents and proteins are fragile molecular assemblies. This is why particular attention is paid to excitation energy and sample handling. Time-resolved fluorescence (fluorescence decays, fluorescence anisotropy decays and…

  • UHI100 platform

    UHI100 platform

    The UHI100 platform is a class 100TW laser installation(Gestion du laser UHI100) coupled with an experimental room designed to study laser-matter interactions in the relativistic regime, above 1018W/cm2, in gases or solids (plasma mirrors, etc.). The UHI100 platform consists of a commercial Amplitudes Technologies 100 TW class laser, which delivers femtosecond laser pulses with a…

Thèses

Thèmes de recherche

  • Laser particle accelerations and applications

    Laser particle accelerations and applications

    Introduction We study the acceleration mechanisms of electrons and protons triggered by the interaction of a very high intensity laser pulse (>1018 W/cm2, also known as the relativistic regime) with solid or gaseous targets. The particle sources thus created have remarkable properties in terms of brevity, charge, energy and emittance, opening up new perspectives in…

  • Metrology of intense ultra-short lasers

    Metrology of intense ultra-short lasers

    Space-time measurement methods Generating, shaping and using intense ultrashort laser pulses for HIFU experiments requires knowledge of the electric field E(x,y,z=z0,t) corresponding to the laser beam. The impossibility of writing the field as the product of a function of space variables and a function of time leads to the presence of space-time couplings (STC). These…

  • Numerical simulations and high-performance computing

    Numerical simulations and high-performance computing

    Introduction Numerical simulations are an essential tool for designing experiments, supporting the analysis of experimental results and exploring physical scenarios that are not directly accessible in the laboratory (e.g. astrophysical plasmas). The PHI group is engaged in a number of numerical activities, ranging from the development of state-of-the-art simulation codes (e.g., WarpX, Gordon Bell Prize…

  • Physics and life

    Physics and life

    Threeresearch programsof the IRAMIS found an natural extension towards biology: Molecular engineering, where studies of co-operative interactions of molecules in solution found a direct extension…

  • SLIC: Post-compression activity

    SLIC: Post-compression activity

    Description Post-compression of sub-10fs pulses has been a major research focus of our team for several years. The first major development concerns the study, design and implementation of a post-compression device on the SE1 channel of the ATTOLab platform’s FAB1-10 laser, enabling pulses of energy up to 8 mJ to be coupled into a 2m-long…

  • Titanium-Sapphire CPA amplifiers

    Titanium-Sapphire CPA amplifiers

    One of our main R&D programs concerns the development of intense Titanium-Sapphire lasers at high power, medium and high frequency (1 to 10 kHz) and stabilized in CEP (Carrier Envelope Phase). Together with Amplitude Technologies in the joint R&D laboratory “IMPULSE”, we have studied and developed new amplification architectures corresponding to the medium-term needs identified…