Additive Manufacturing (AM) is an emerging part production technology that offers many advantages such as high degree of customization, material savings and design of 3D highly complex structures. However, AM is a complex multiphysics process. Therefore, only a limited number of materials can already be commercially used to produce parts and a handful of others are being studied or developed for such process. Consequently, limited knowledge on this process is available, especially concerning materials that present thermomechanical challenges such as brittle materials.
The research I did during my PhD studies focuses on additive fabrication of silicon pillars on a monocrystalline silicon wafer by Direct Laser Melting (DLM) with a pulsed 1064 nm laser beam. The simple geometry of pillars allowed for the first determining steps into process understanding. Several results were achieved through this PhD work. First, crack-free silicon pillars were successfully built onto monocrystalline silicon wafers. With the help of in-situ process monitoring and sample characterization, wafer substrate temperature and laser repetition rate were found to be the main influential parameters to obtain crack-free samples, as minimum substrate temperature of 730°C and a minimum repetition rate of 100 Hz were necessary to reach this goal (for a feed rate of 15 g/min and a pulse duration of 1 ms). The influence of secondary process parameters such as feed rate and energy per pulse were also discussed. A simple Finite Element Modeling (FEM) model validated by the experiments was used to explain crack propagation in the samples. Then, process monitoring of the DLM process was realized. High-speed camera image analysis revealed that vertical stage speed and powder feed rate should match to obtain a constant pillar building rate. As all pillars presented necking at their base, estimations of the thermal characteristics of the pillar during growth were carried out by FEM simulations. They were more used to explain the pillar final shape. Finally, the microstructure of the pillars built was characterized by the Electron Back-Scattering Dif-fraction (EBSD) technique. In the conditions presented in this work, the microstructure of the pillar was found to be in the columnar growth mode. The feed rate was identified as the most influential parameter on the microstructure, followed by the stage speed, the impurity content of the powder and the crystallographic orientation of the substrate. Epitaxial growth was achieved on more than 1 mm with a feed rate of 1.0 g/min, a stage speed of 0.1 mm/s, a powder with purity of 4N and a <111> oriented wafer substrate. This work could be further continued by making improvements to the DLM setup, studying the influence of additional process parameters on the thermomechanical behavior and the microstructure control of the pillars, and/or using these results to realize more complicated shapes, either with this setup or by using a powder bed technique.
About
I was born in France and I have grown up in a little town called Beynes, in the department Yvelines, no so far from Paris and Versailles. I am the first of four kids! As a child, I wanted to be a journalist. I have always been interested in digging up into a subject in order to transforming into articles that could be read by others. I had a few friends writing a bunch of articles alongside so we could turn everything into magazines. I spent a lot of time playing with a - now old - layout software in order to make this publication look like my favorite magazines at that time – L'Hebdo, le monde des ados. I even managed to get an internship for a week there!
About
I was born in France and I have grown up in a little town called Beynes, in the department Yvelines, no so far from Paris and Versailles. I am the first of four kids! As a child, I wanted to be a journalist. I have always been interested in digging up into a subject in order to transforming into articles that could be read by others. I had a few friends writing a bunch of articles alongside so we could turn everything into magazines. I spent a lot of time playing with a - now old - layout software in order to make this publication look like my favorite magazines at that time – L'Hebdo, le monde des ados. I even managed to get an internship for a week there!
Art and Science Projects
Science is often perceived as inaccessible, boring, or even arrogant. I strongly believe that art can help reconnect the public with scientific disciplines. Through interactivity, immersive storytelling, and emotional engagement, art can create a dialogue between scientists and lay audiences, connecting them on a deeper, more human level. In turn, this dialogue encourages broader audiences to develop curiosity about science and engage with complex topics.
In this section, I present a selection of projects created for diverse audiences with the aim of making complex scientific ideas more accessible and engaging.
During my time at the NCCR SPIN at the University of Basel, Switzerland, I co-developed QuantArt, an art-and-science program designed to communicate science through artistic practice and to provide young researchers with opportunities to develop their science communication and creative skills in unconventional ways. The program released projects in various formats - games, exhibitions and art pieces, children books, collaboration with museums and comic festivals, and stage performances.
All the projects I (co-)developed can be found on the following page:
Save the Cat (game)
Qubits on the Bloch (art installation)
Save the Cat is an interactive and semi-digital scavenger hunt celebrating the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology.
The players were prompted to solve riddles and navigate through some of the main events in the history of quantum science: a fun way to get to know even more about the topic!
Together with Joel Hutchinson and Maria Longobardi, I developed the concept, the overarching story of the game, the mechanics, the riddles, co-wrote some of the text and illustrated the game.
Qubits on the Bloch is an art and science installation presented at the World Exhibition 2025 in Osaka, Japan.
I co-conceptualized and co-designed the piece, as well as managed the project.
LooQ Closer (art installation)
Hidden Variables (art installation)
Hidden Variables is an art and science 3D installation.
What lies behind a single scientific breakthrough? A journey of trials and errors, ups and downs, successes and failures, and above all, an investment of time. At the intersection of art and science, a team of six dedicated quantum computing scientists come together to show you the hidden beauty within lost data and failed measurements - essential components in the pursuit of even the most subtle scientific insights.
I proposed, conceptualized and managed the project and guided six young scientists to design this art and science installation, presented in multiple venues around the world.
Have you ever dreamed of exploring the infinitely small — of jumping into a world where things behave like nothing you know? At the crossroads of Art and Science, a team of young NCCR SPIN physicists and designers invites you to dive into the quantum world and all its quirky phenomena. Their installation is composed of interactive lampshades which shed light on the mysteries of quantum physics, letting you sense and experience it as if you were a part of it. Step in and embark on a scientific journey, an endless pursuit of answers to ever-deeper questions.
In simple words yet charged with complexities: come in, and look closer.
I proposed, conceptualized and managed the project and guided five young scientists and designers to create this interactive art and science installation, presented at the Berlin Science Week 2025.
QuantumLand.inc (art installation)
This 3D installation discusses scientific processes, from hypotheses and ideas to experiments, passing through simulations, transforming into piles of data that may or may not result in useful material. The young researchers incorporated the idea of a factory which processes, at times, nonsensical elements, so the visitors can be pulled into a fantastic mechanical machinery and interact with its elements.
I proposed, conceptualized and managed the project and guided three young scientists to design this art and science installation, presented at the Berlin Science Week 2024.
