MasterNanosciences, nanotechnologies

General scope

Heat conduction at the macroscopic scale is well described by Fourier's law. In crystalline solids, the collective vibrational modes of the lattice, called phonons, provide the formal framework for a quantitative description of the heat conduction process. At small scales, and especially at molecular scales, collective vibrations are more challenging to determine, and the concept of temperature itself may be poorly defined. The internship proposes to experimentally explore these concepts by relying on controlled and self-assembled molecular geometries based on DNA origami principles, using a novel method of thermal measurement by scanning microscopy developed within the team.

Research topics and facilities available

Scanning Thermal Microscopy (SThM) is based on the same type of probe as those used for AFM instrumented with a thermometer (see top figure). First the internship will be devoted to designing, fabricating, characterizing, and modeling thermal probes. A second part of the internship will focus on designing, assembling, and characterizing DNA origami (see bottom figure) with configurations suitable for conducting thermal measurements at the 10 nm scale.

Hierarchical assemblies and immobilization methods on substrates suitable for thermal transfer will be developed. We will collaborate with ENS Lyon to develop a CAD tool to efficiently design molecular shapes based on DNA. An AFM is available to characterize shapes, and the instrumentation for thermal measurements is available (see bottom figure).

The long-term scientific objective is to understand heat transport (one-dimensional) at the scale of a single molecule. The topic has a strong component of nanophysics and is oriented towards chemistry and biology, making it an interdisciplinary subject.

Possible collaborations and networking

Numerous collaborations are possible with computational physicists, notably at LIP (Lyon), CETHIL (Lyon), LOMA (Bordeaux), LEMTA (Nancy), LNE (Paris), and Glasgow (Scotland). Within the laboratory, research collaborations on nanomaterials with chemists or biophysicists are planned to develop molecular-scale thermometry or thermal measurements on living systems.

Qualifications of the applicant

Suitable for a student of the  M1 Soft Matter and Biophysics
Expected skills: background in physics is required. A strong taste for instrumentation is a plus.