Prof. Dr. Bernard Gil Appointed Section Editor-in-Chief of Section “Quantum Technologies” in Technologies

We are pleased to announce that Prof. Dr. Bernard Gil has been appointed Editor-in-Chief of the Section “Quantum Technologies” in Technologies (ISSN: 2227-7080).

Prof. Dr. Bernard Gil has been a researcher at the CNRS (National Center of Scientific Research) since 1982. He is currently the Director of Research of Exceptional Class at the Institute of Physics (INP). He is an experimentalist and an expert in the measurement of the coupling between the electromagnetic field and the electronic states of solids. He has been studying in-depth the optical properties of semiconductors since 1994, with some specific interest in nitride semiconductors for compact-solid state lighting and energy savings linked to the utilization of this technology. He is currently very much interested in quantum technologies and in the emission of light in the deep ultraviolet range for the eradication of pathogens using as an active material boron nitride grown under different polytypes. Gil was awarded Doctor Honoris Causa of the University Saint Petersburg in 2012, and Doctor Honoris Causa of the Meijo University of Nagoya in 2013. He is the 2018 laureate of the Welker Award. His Google Scholar citation records indicate 14,000 citations, with a Hirsch factor of 60.

Keywords: wide gap semiconductors; quantum technologies; photonics; solid-state lighting

The following is a short Q&A with Prof. Dr. Bernard Gil, who shared his vision for the journal with us, as well as his views of the research area and open access publishing:

1. What appealed to you about the journal that made you want to take the role as its Section Editor-in-Chief?
I progressively moved from the optical properties of bulk materials to those of their quantum heterostructures to finally focus on their applications for quantum technologies.

2. What is your vision for the journal?
From my own experience the journal should frame all aspects of quantum technologies. I wrote this before:

Quantum technologies (QTs) consist of a vast melting pot of different disciplinary fields running from basic science domains such as mathematics, physics, chemistry, and biology, all of which are considered at a broad scale and thus more than often overlapping, combined with different technical approaches. The latter are of paramount importance in order to fabricate for these scientists, the objects for measuring and understanding what happens, sometimes at a sub-atomic level, for further controlling it and to transfer for realizing quantum devices with ad hoc designs that generally operate according to the prescriptions of quantum mechanics. Advantages can be taken of the predictions of its early days, but obviously of course of much more recently discovered effects. The building of a quantum computer, the race to the use of QTs in the field of cryptography have long been putting QTs under the lime-lights. Today’s race to find out how quantum simulators or quantum sensors can be used to solve non-quantum problems, to improve, for instance, the performance of brain scanners and for creating systems paving our ways toward better diagnosing medical conditions are typical examples required to illustrate the broad scale applicability of QTs when integrated into already existing systems. Thus, scientists of the fundamental science domains contribute on the same footing as engineers do, and economic challenges significantly generate some tropisms of developments of QTs in specific and eclectic directions, which at the end of the day form the quantum technology industry. The global challenges motivate us to open the possibility of submitting predicting ideas, including having in mind how the use QTs can be applicated in the areas of energy savings and sustainability. A substantial amount of funding is dedicated worldwide by the governing institutions for actively funding QTs.

The story begins at the stage of the growth and processing of sub-nanosized and nanosized and other materials of controlled purities such as semiconductors, metals, or any other molecular objects extensively used in the modern industry. QTs are multidisciplinary: they associate pertinent partners of different areas in networks susceptible to conceiving and fabricating a specific quantum sensor, quantum devices. It generally requires intense and profitable intergroup cross-talking exchanges before such quantum device or sensor comes to birth. Aside from simple scientific curiosity, economic motivations largely influence the development of QTs. This specific review is offered as an important forum for offering people of different areas for publishing their innovative discoveries in the multidisciplinary area of QTs. Both extended reviews and regular articles can be accepted for publication after peer-reviewing.

3. What does the future of this field of research look like?
Multidisciplinary.

4. What do you think of the development of Open Access in the publishing field?
I am not sure that my institution CNRS is in favor of that; I am even sure it is reluctant to the concept of paying a lot of money for papers being published even after being refereed. This also holds for Nature and Science. Therefore, I cannot be explicitly polled for this.

We wish Prof. Dr. Gil every success in his new position, and we look forward to his contributions to the journal.