Michel Lannoo has been appointed to the post of Scientific Director of the Department of Physical Sciences and Mathematics (SPM) of the CNRS, pursuant to a decision taken on March 24, 2003 by Geneviève Berger, the Director-General of the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS). He succeeds Elisabeth Giacobino, who has been appointed Director of Research at the French Ministry of Youth, Education, and Research.

Since October 2001, Michel Lannoo had been Deputy Scientific Director at the Department of Physical Sciences and Mathematics of the CNRS. Prior to that, in 1999, he was appointed Director of the "nanostructures" concerted incentive action (ACI)(1) launched by the French Ministry of Research, and in May 2002 he was appointed by the Directorate-General of the CNRS to the post of Director of the "nanosciences-nanotechnologies" research program(2) . For over ten years now, Michel Lannoo has been a driving force in bringing people to work together in the field of nanosciences.

Born on July 5, 1942, Michel Lannoo joined the CNRS in 1968, after writing a thesis under the direction of Jacques Friedel. His research work essentially concerned the theoretical physics of semiconductors. He was Director of the "Laboratoire des surfaces et interfaces" (the Surfaces and Interfaces Laboratory) from 1979 to 1991. During that period, he led international collaborations, in particular at the prestigious "Bells Labs" in the United States. Michel Lannoo then played a decisive role in setting up the "Institut d’électronique et de microélectronique du Nord" (Northern Institute of Electronics and Microelectronics, IEMN )(3) of which he was Deputy Director from 1991 to 1998.

In 1998, Michel Lannoo became Deputy Director of the Physics and Engineering Sciences sector at the French Ministry of National Education, Research, and Technologies. The same year, he founded and directed the "Laboratoire matériaux et microélectronique de Provence" (Provence Laboratory for Materials and Microelectronics, L2MP)(4) , a research unit run jointly by the CNRS and the Universities of Aix-Marseille 1 and 3 and of Toulon. He gave the laboratory a cross-disciplinary flavor (physical sciences and mathematics, chemical sciences, and information and communications sciences and technologies) essential to developing nanosciences and nanotechnologies.

Nanosciences and nanotechnologies constitute one of the five priority research themes written into the CNRS action contract for the coming years. Major programs are being financed by the United States, Germany, Japan, and the European Commission because this rapidly-growing sector shows enormous potential for economic development. For Michel Lannoo, it is important "to facilitate cross-disciplinary approaches, to emphasize training, and to open up technology facilities to nanosciences." A much sought-after expert for relations between basic physics and information and communications sciences and technologies, Michel Lannoo is focusing his attention particularly on microscopic simulation of new-generation components. He is the author of three works in English, two on "defects in semiconductors" (translated into Russian) and the other on "surfaces."

Here are some of Michel Lannoo's objectives:
- to promote opening up physics and mathematics to other disciplines and to industry;
- to encourage the pursuit of excellence and increased competitiveness at the international level;
- to support actions targeting original and ambitious projects;
- to steer communication towards the lay public and young people in order to re-motivate young people to take up scientific careers;
- to increasingly look toward the future in order to make the right strategy choices; and
- to make sure that a harmonious balance is struck between basic research and more targeted studies.

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The nanodimension
The nanoworld lies at the scale of the atom, from which it is possible to build larger structures. The unit of reference is the billionth of a meter(5). The ultimate object is to design and to make materials and components that are totally new, with fundamentally new molecular organizations. Quantum mechanics applies to this scale, with laws of behavior that are radically different from those that govern macroscopic objects. Applications are being considered to electronics, computer science, and telecommunications (on the basis of research on magnetism and ferroelectricity at the scale of the molecule); medicine and healthcare (nanorobotics or medication that acts directly on a target molecule); environment and energy (integrated sensors that make corrective action possible); biotechnology and agriculture.
The approach is necessarily cross-disciplinary. Unimaginable only 15 years ago, certain results should lead to industrial applications within the next 5 to 10 years.
Detailed information:

The Nanofeuilleton (nanoserial), the newsletter of the SPM Department, issue No. 39, May 2002 http://www.spm.cnrs-dir.fr/quoi/publications/lettres/L39/lannoo.pdf

Issue No. 151-152 of the Journal of the CNRS, file devoted to nanosciences and nanotechnologies

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(1) ACI: http://www.recherche.gouv.fr/recherche/aci/default.htm
(2 )This four-year CNRS program is part of the cross-disciplinary nanosciences-nanotechnologies concerted action launched by the French Research Ministry, the CNRS, and the CEA (French Atomic Energy Authority).
(3 )A joint research unit run jointly by the CNRS, the University of Sciences and Technologies of Lille (USTL), the University of Valenciennes and of Hainaut Cambrésis (UVHC), the IEMN became, in 2002, the Institute of Electronics, Microelectronics, and Nanotechnology.
(4) The L2MP brings together 80 researchers and teaching researchers in microelectronics, solids physicists, and chemists, and it is now focusing on nanosciences and nanotechnologies.
(5) Working at minuscule scales requires "dust-free" clean rooms.