Jacqueline Bloch

Jacqueline Bloch is a distinguished researcher at the Centre for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (C2N - Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS) who also teaches at the École Polytechnique and the Institut d'Optique Graduate School. She specializes in experimental physics using polaritons to simulate various physical systems and study their properties.

Her educational background includes graduating from EPSCI (Paris Graduate School of Industrial Physics and Chemistry) in 1992, obtaining a 2-year master's degree in the physics of solids from ENS, Paris 6 and Paris 11, and defending her doctoral thesis in 1994 at what became the Laboratory for Photonics and Nanostructures (LPN).

Bloch's research focuses on polaritons - particles that spend half their time as photons and half as excited states of matter. She designs micron-level chamber networks to trap light and simulate condensed matter systems, including structures that mimic graphene physics (honeycomb system) and benzene physics (ring of six connected chambers). Her team invented an orbital laser whose light rotates while spreading, with applications in information storage and micromanipulation. She emphasizes the visual aspect of these experiments for educational purposes and contributes to the booming field of quantum simulation, where complex systems are studied through controlled experiments rather than increasingly complicated calculations.

• SFP Jean Ricard Prize (2015)
• CNRS Silver Medal (2017)
• Ampère Prize (2019)
• Admission to French Académie des Sciences (2019)

Bloch joined CNRS two weeks after her thesis defense in 1994 and completed a post-doctorate at Bell Labs (1998-99). She unveiled the polariton laser in late 1999 and has been researching chamber networks simulating condensed matter since 2010 in collaboration with Alberto Amo. She values team collaboration and training young scientists, noting that her students often find industry positions due to their problem-solving skills. Working at C2N provides her with a 'fantastic environment' with impressive clean room facilities and close collaboration between technicians, engineers, and researchers.