Directory

CNRS Research Associate

Position:

Since 2020 CNRS Researcher (CR CNRS), IMN, CNRS

Form positions:

• 2019 -2020 Research Scientist CDD in Materials Chem.(Next Junior Talent Chair), IMN, CNRS
• 2015 – 2019 Staff Research Scientist, SuperSTEM Laboratory, EPSRC National Research Centre for Advanced Electron Microscopy, UK
• 2015 – 2019 SuperSTEM research fellow, University of Leeds, UK
• 2012 – 2014 Postdoctoral Researcher, Pacific Northwest National Laboratoy, USA
• 2011 – 2012 Postdoctoral Researcher, University of California-Davis, USA

Main research topics:

• Solid-liquid interfaces on hybrid and biomaterials probed using electron microscopy;
• The development and application of new electron microscopy methods for properties-structure relationship of beam sensitive materials and radiolysis quantification in the electron microscope.

Biography:

Patricia Abellan is a CNRS researcher at the Institute of Materials of Nantes (IMN) Jean Rouxel, Nantes University, since 2019. She received her BSc in Physics from the Aalborg University (Denmark) and her Ph.D. in Materials Sciences from the Autonomous University of Barcelona and Institute of Materials Science of Barcelona (ICMAB-CSIC), Spain, in 2011. She has held postdoctoral positions at the University of California – Davis and at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, USA, before taking a staff research scientist position at the SuperSTEM Laboratory (Daresbury, UK) in 2015. Her research focuses on the study of solid-liquid interfaces on hybrid and biomaterials using electron microscopy as well as on the elucidation of the radiation chemistry and radiation physics driving the processes at liquid-solid interfaces induced by the electron beam in an electron microscope. In 2013 she received the Best Ph.D. Thesis Award from the SME, in 2019 she was the laureate of the NExT Junior Talent program and in 2023 she won an European Research Council (ERC) Consolidator Grant. She has given over 35 invited presentations at international conferences and academic institutions on the development and application of electron microscopy methods.

Current research projects

• Osteocytes extracellular vesicles cargos: a new approach for regenerative medicine of bone tissue (OVERbone), ANR PRC (ANR-20-CE18-0015); national collaborative project (2 partners), 505.3k€ (149k€ for WP2), 2021-2025, Role: WP2 leader
• Dosimetry of Ultra-High Dose-Rate Electron Beams at Solid-Water Interfaces in Electron Microscopy: A Key Advance in Hydrated Samples Research (DREAM-SWIM), HORIZON-ERC CoG (project 101124066); individual project, 2.1 M€, 2024-2029, Role: PI
• Intensified PRocess coupling reaction and separation using Enzymes-functionalized Membranes for the recovery of bIomolecUles from Microalgae (PREMIUM), ANR PRCI (ANR-23-CE51-0059); international collaborative project (3 partners), 700k€ (207.7k€ for WP), 2024-2026, Role: Co-PI
• OPerando analyses and modelling of INterface dynamics and CHARGE transport in lithium-ion batteries (OPINCHARGE), HORIZON-RIA, (HORIZONCL5-2022-D2-01; proposal 101104032); international collaborative project (10 partners), 5.7 M€ (710 k€ for WP), 2023-2026, Role: Partner/Participant

Activities in the research community

• Member of the French microscopy society (SFmu), French BIOMAT, Spanish microscopy society (SME), European Microsc. Society (EMS), Microscopy society of America (MSA)
• Member of the Proposal Review Panel of the European Research Infrastructure ReMAde@ARI project, since 2025
• Member of organization committee of the annual congress of l’association française des biomatériaux (BIOMAT) 2026
• Member of the Access Committee (AC) of the Spanish ELECMI (elecmi.es), since 2022
• Member of the Transnational Access proposal evaluation committee (TAPEC) in the European ESTEEM3 project, 2022-2023
• Member of the panel of independent experts of the French METSA research federation, since 2022
• Member of the Editorial Board of the journal Micron, Elsevier, since 2019
• Member of CINT External Proposal Review Board, DOE Center for Integrated Nanotechnol. Sandia National Laboratories, since 2018
• Guest editor (managing editor) of Special Issue in Liquid-phase EM in Micron
• Member of Scientific proposal internal review panel, EPSRC SuperSTEM Lab, 2015-2017
• Symposium organizer at major international conferences including European-Materials research society (E-MRS) 2019 Fall Meeting, Warsaw, Poland; EUROMAT 2021, Graz, Austria (virtual conference); Microscopy & Microanalysis (Portland 2019 and Minneapolis 2023) and Colloque SFµ 2023, SDM2: In Situ, operando, Rouen, France
• Discussion leader (2), Gordon Research conferences (GRC) on liquid-phase EM, 2020 & 2024, Italy
• Panel Discussion at Biophysics & Physical Microscopy conference 2023, Institute of Physics, London
• Keynote speaker, 19th International Microscopy Congress 2018, Sydney, Australia
  o Session chair at international conferences, including Microscopy & Microanalysis 2017, 2019 and 2023, E-MRS 2018 and 2019 Fall meetings, GRC on liquid phase EM 2020 and 2024, EUROMAT 2021, Colloque SFµ 2023
• Program chair Pre-meeting congress on radiation beam damage, prior to Microscopy and Microanalysis 2017, 70 participants, St. Louis, USA and Third Virtual workshop of MaterialWell (2022)
• 42 invited talks at international conferences (31) and research/academic institutions (11)
• Member of PhD thesis jury (2), University of Basque Country, CIC NanoGUNE 2025 and CEA-Leti at the University of Grenoble Alpes 2021
• Co-organizer of the physics of materials and nanostructures (PMN) group scientific seminars, since January 2021
• Member of jury for best student presentation awards at international conferences, including symposium L in E-MRS 2018 Fall meeting, conference MMC2019 and GRD NanOperando 2019
• Member of local organization team: 7th biennial SuperSTEM Summer School, 2018, UK

Distinction:

2013 Best Ph.D. Thesis in Materials Science Award (biennial 2011-2012). Awarded by the Microscopy Society of Spain (SME)

Patent:

Nanoparticles, Methods for Producing Nanoparticles and Nanoparticle Generators. J.W. Grate, N.D. Browning, P. Abellan, U.S. patent number 10500228 filed in 26/04/2017, published in 10/12/2019

Senior Lecturer

Expertises :

• PVD thin film deposition
• Cold plasmas
• DC and RF magnetron sputtering
• Optical emission spectroscopy
• Profilometry

Senior Lecturer

Senior Lecturer

Senior Lecturer

Functions :

• 2021- : Senior Lecturer (IMN, Nantes University)
• 2019-2021: R&D Engineer ARMOR/CNRS IMS Pessac
• 2017-2019: Postdoctoral researcher, SPECIFIC IKC, Swansea University, Wales, UK
• 2014-2017: Postdoctoral researcher, KAUST, Saudi Arabia

Qualifications :

• 2013 PhD of the Université de Toulouse. Title: “Fabrication and characterization of silicon nanocrystals encapsulated in amorphous silicon matrices: role of interfaces and matrix on structural, optical and electrical properties”.
• 2009 INSA Rennes Engineer – Materials and Nanotechnologies

Expertises :

• Thin films deposition using plasma techniques (Reactive sputtering, DC, RF)
• High Power Impulse Magnetron Sputtering (HiPIMS)
• Functional oxide and nitride thin films

Main research themes:

• Plasma deposition for functional materials and energy applications (reactive sputtering)
• Nitride and oxide thin film electrodes for microsupercapacitors and high-power microbatteries
• Reactive magnetron sputtering, high power impulse magnetron sputtering (HiPIMS)
• Thin films for solar cells (interfacial selective layers)
• Thin film and surface characterizations (electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy…)

Current research projects :

• Bourse doctorale Nantes Université: Perovskite oxide thin films as electrodes for high power microbatteries.
• ANR JCJC PERFORM: Plasma-Processed 3D Electrodes for Microsupercapacitors
• CHIPS: Combinatorial HiPIMS for Sovereignty (CEA – IMN project)
• ASTERIX: Advanced surface technologies for resilient and innovative materials in extreme environments (PEPR DIADEM project, CEA-LPGP-IMN-SIMaP collaboration)

Activities in the research community :

• Member of IRN (Franco-Quebec) NMC
• Cold Plasma Network

Biography

English:

Jérémy Barbé is a researcher at the Institut des Matériaux de Nantes Jean Rouxel (IMN), in the Plasma and Thin Films group (PCM), and a teacher in the Materials department at Polytech Nantes (Nantes University). A specialist in functional materials for energy, his research focuses on thin films deposition by plasma methods such as sputtering and HiPIMS, with applications in electrochemical energy storage microdevices, and thin-film solar cells.

After graduating in materials and nanotechnology engineering from INSA Rennes (2009), he obtained a PhD from Paul Sabatier University (Toulouse III) in 2013, with a thesis on the fabrication by PECVD of silicon nanocrystals in thin-film silica matrices, carried out at CEA LITEN and CNRS LAPLACE. He then moved on to various post-doctorates focusing on sol-gel deposition techniques for thin-film solar cells (CIGS, perovskites and organics). These stopovers took him under the burning sun of Saudi Arabia in KAUST (2014-2016), then under the Welsh clouds in Swansea (2017-2019), before joining the ARMOR group and CNRS IMS in Pessac.

In 2021, he joined IMN as a lecturer where he works on the development of innovative thin-film materials used as electrodes for electrochemical energy storage devices. His research focuses in particular on oxides, nitrides and oxynitrides obtained by reactive sputtering (HiPIMS, DCMS…).

Active in the scientific community, he is a member of IRN NMC and the Cold Plasma Network. His work is regularly published and cited in the field of energy materials.

French :

Jérémy Barbé is a lecturer at the Institut des Matériaux Jean Rouxel (IMN) in Nantes, in the Plasma and Thin Films group (PCM), and a teacher in the Materials department at Polytech Nantes. A specialist in functional materials for energy, his research focuses on plasma deposits, electrodes for microsupercapacitors, and thin-film solar cells, particularly organic and perovskite.

A graduate in materials and nanotechnology engineering from INSA Rennes (2009), in 2013 he obtained a PhD from Paul Sabatier University (Toulouse III), with a thesis on the PECVD fabrication of silicon nanocrystals in thin-film silicate matrices, carried out at CEA LITEN and CNRS LAPLACE. He then moved on to various post-doctorates focusing on sol-gel deposition techniques for thin-film solar cells (CIGS, perovskites and organics). These stopovers took him under the burning sun of Saudi Arabia in KAUST (2014-2016), then under the Welsh clouds in Swansea (2017-2019), before joining the ARMOR group, linked to the CNRS IMS in Pessac.

In 2021, he joined IMN as a lecturer where he works on the manufacture of innovative thin-film materials used as electrodes for electrochemical energy storage devices. His research focuses in particular on oxides, nitrides and oxynitrides obtained by reactive sputtering (HiPIMS, DCMS…).

Active in the scientific community, he is a member of the IRN NMC and the Cold Plasma Network. His work is regularly published and cited in the field of materials for energy.

Teaching :

• Teaching in Polytech Nantes (semiconductors, thin films, sensors, material characterizations)

Publications :

• 35 articles in peer-reviewed journals

Major publications:

• A Lebreton, J Barbé, C Lethien, JN Coleman, T Brousse, Tuning Deposition Conditions for VN Thin Films Electrodes for Microsupercapacitors: Influence of the Substrate Bias Voltage, Journal of The Electrochemical Society 171 (9), 090513, (2024)
• J Barbé, M Newman, S Lilliu, V Kumar, H Ka Hin Lee, C Charbonneau, C Rodenburg, D Lidzey, WC Tsoi, Localized effect of PbI2 excess in perovskite solar cells probed by high-resolution chemical-optoelectronic mapping, Journal of Materials Chemistry A 6 (45), 23010-23018 (2018)
• A Lebreton, C Lethien, JN Coleman, T Brousse, J Barbé, Tuning Deposition Conditions for VN Thin Films Electrodes for Microsupercapacitors: Influence of the Substrate Bias Voltage, Journal of The Electrochemical Society 172 (4), 040523 (2025)
• J Barbé, ML Tietze, M Neophytou, B Murali, E Alarousu, AE Labban, et al, Amorphous tin oxide as a low-temperature-processed electron-transport layer for organic and hybrid perovskite solar cells, ACS applied materials & interfaces 9 (13), 11828-11836 (2017)

Link to orcid: https://orcid.org/0009-0003-3366-4567

Link to scholar.google.fr: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=oBvrlzgAAAAJ&hl=fr

University Professor

Functions :

Lecturer (P.U. section 63, Nantes University, Physics Department)

Qualifications:

Doctor-HDR

Expertises:

Synthesis and characterization of thin films for optoelectronic applications

Main research themes:

Photovoltaic conversion using chalcopyrite-structured chalcogenide thin films

Current research projects :

• ANR: GASPER, SIPHON
• Europe: SITA (RIA), PARACELSIS (M-Era Net)
• ADEME: PRINCIPLE
• PEPR: H2-GreeNH3, TASE-IOTA, SPLEEN-POWERCO2

Activities in the research community

• Steering committee: GDR Chalco, PEPR-TASE project targeting IOTA
• Board member of the FedPV research federation

Biography

Nicolas Barreau holds a PhD in materials science from the University of Nantes (2001), and was awarded a “habilitation à diriger des recherches” in 2010. Following his PhD, he completed a post-doctoral contract (2002-2003) at the Hahn-Meitner Institute in Berlin. In 2005, he was appointed Maître de Conférences, section CNU63, at Nantes University, where he carried out his research in the Photovoltaic Materials Laboratory (LAMP, Dir. John Kessler). In 2008, he joined the Institut des Matériaux de Nantes Jean Rouxel (IMN, UMR6502). His research activities focus on photovoltaic conversion based on thin films of chalcogenide materials (eg. Cu(In,Ga)(Se,S)2) for applications ranging from tandem cells to photoelectro-catalytic conversion. He has (co-)authored over 200 papers (including proceedings) and seven patents.

Teaching :

General physics, photovoltaics

Publications :

Number of publications: 173

• Léo Choubrac, Fabien Pineau, Eugène Bertin, Ludovic Arzel and Nicolas Barreau. Rethinking CIGS solar cells for rear illumination applications. (2025) J. Phys. Energy 7 02LT01. DOI 10.1088/2515-7655/ad9acf
• Nicolas Barreau, Eugène Bertin, Alexandre Crossay, Olivier Durand, Ludovic Arzel, Sylvie Harel, Thomas Lepetit, Lionel Assmann, Eric Gautron, Daniel Lincot. Investigation of co-evaporated polycrystalline Cu(In,Ga)S2 thin film yielding 16.0% efficiency solar cell. (2022) EPJ Photovoltaics, Volume 13, 27. DOI: 10.1051/epjpv/2022014
• N. Barreau, O. Durand, E. Bertin, A. Létoublon, C. Cornet, P. Tsoulka, E. Gautron, D. Lincot. Epitaxial growth of CIGSe layers on GaP/Si (001) pseudo-substrate for tandem CIGSe/Si solar cells. (2021) Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells 2021, 233, 111385. DOI: 10.1016/j.solmat.2021.111385.
• Pati, P.B., Wang, R., Boutin, E., Diring, S., Jobic, S., Barreau, N., Odobel, F., Robert, M.. Photocathode functionalized with a molecular cobalt catalyst for selective carbon dioxide reduction in water (2020) Nature Communications, 11 (1), art. no. 3499. DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-17125-4

Number of patents : 7

Link to orcid: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8423-153X

Link to scholar.google.fr: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=vr2jHQoAAAAJ&hl=fr