Thomas Duguet, 34, is a CNRS researcher at the CIRIMAT laboratory (Toulouse, France) since 2012. He is engineer from the School of Mines (Nancy, FR), where he also achieved a master’s thesis in Materials Science and Engineering, with Dr. Thierry Belmonte. In 2009, he obtained his Ph.D. from the Université de Lorraine, focused on the ‘Surfaces and Thin Films of Complex metallic Alloys’, with Dr. Vincent Fournée and Dr. Jean-Marie Dubois (Institut Jean Lamour, Nancy, FR).

Research activities. His main research areas are the reactivity of surfaces, mechanisms of formation of thin films, the CVD processing of metallic or ceramic coatings, and the adherence at polymer/metal interfaces. Over the last few years, a large part of his collaborative research has been dedicated to the development of a low temperature CVD process for the functionalisation of polymer composite parts for satellites, aiming at lowering the mass and improving the thermomechanical stability of satellites. This fruitful partnership made Thomas create and manage the joint laboratory ‘COCOON’, with the SME MECANO ID. Nevertheless, Thomas always insists on applying both an “academic” approach inherited from his background with model systems (ultrahigh vacuum, surface science, ab initio calculations), and an “engineering” approach, more empirical, which includes industrial constraints and milestones (short-term, repeatability, costs). This commitment to conduct such a dual research has led to the development of original and robust methodologies for processing, characterizing, and modeling, with implications for both the ideal and real worlds.

Thomas insists that credits also go to his colleagues, Pr. Corinne Lacaze-Dufaure and Dr. Constantin Vahlas, and to all the students and postdocs that contribute to the success story.

Thomas has co-authored 38 publications including 1 review article, a book chapter, and he holds 1 patent. He gave 3 invited lectures in international conferences, and 1 in a national congress. He also participated to 40 conferences in the forms of oral or poster contributions. Finally, in 2016 he was the recipient of the Jean Rist Medal, awarded by the SF2M (French Society of Metals and Materials), as a recognition of his applied and fundamental approach of research problems.

Keywords. Reactivity of surfaces, Nucleation & Growth, CVD, Metallisation, Adherence.

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