From 1976 to the mid-eighties, Jean-Michel Lourtioz’s research was primarily oriented on the development of molecular gas lasers. After a contribution to HF/DF chemical lasers, he focused on optically pumped far-infrared (FIR) and mid-infrared (MIR) molecular lasers. He demonstrated new laser emissions from fluorocarbons, obtained high power performances from the methanol laser and reported a record efficiency from the ammonia Raman laser at   ≈ 12 μm. He and his group have also demonstrated parametric four-wave interactions in optically pumped ammonia and investigated in detail injection-locking of high-power CO2 lasers. Various applications of FIR/MIR lasers were considered including the development of nonlinear solid-state devices such as superconductive Josephson junctions.

In the mid-eighties, Jean-Michel Lourtioz re- oriented his activities from molecular physics and molecular lasers to semiconductor physics, quantum optoelectronics and nanophotonics.
He has been successively involved in the investigations of short pulse laser diodes, electro-optic sampling, quantum well intersubband devices, Si (Ge)-based photonics, photonic crystals and metamaterials at optical and microwave frequencies.

He and his group have produced the shortest pulses (≈ 150 fs) ever reported from chirped mode-locked laser diodes (1989-1995). This was followed by the demonstration of fast saturable absorbers, fast optical switches and wideband photomixers at telecommunication wavelengths using ion-irradiation of InP based quantum wells (1996-2006).

Detailed investigations of intersubband transitions in GaAs/AlGaAs and Si/SiGe(C) quantum wells have led to the first demonstration of photoluminescence up-conversion in the near-infrared, second- harmonic conversion in the mid-infrared, and optically pumped unipolar semiconductor laser emission at long wavelengths (1989-1999).

Results obtained by Jean-Michel Lourtioz and his group on photonic crystals includes the achievement of an electrically controllable photonic crystal at centimeter wavelengths, the demonstration of a full two- dimensional photonic bandgap in macroporous silicon at ee≈ 1.5 μm, the fabrication of a three- dimensional near-infrared Yablonovite-like photonic crystal by focused ion beam etching of silicon and detailed investigations of photonic crystal waveguide lasers at telecommunication wavelengths (1997-2007).

Results obtained on metamaterials includes the control of plasmon hybridization for negative refraction metamaterials, the demonstration of a microwave cloak based on the electrical response of split ring resonators and the theoretical and experimental analysis of resonance-continuum coupling in high-permittivity dielectric metamaterials (2007-2010).

In 2010, Jean-Michel Lourtioz has re-oriented a part of his activities to the development of research projects in nanobiotechnology, including microfluidics, guided plasmonics for biodetection, biosensors for personalized medicine and microscopic analysis of nanodrugs.

After this period, he has contributed to large structuring research projects, aimed at the creation of the University of Paris-Saclay (2013-2020). He has also contributed to the dissemination of scientific knowledge especially in the field of nanoscience and nanotechnology and that of sustainable development. He has been the coordinator of the MOOC “understanding nanosciences” from 2017 to 2020. He is presently coordinating the SPOC “challenges of the green transition”, which is a digital course for all undergraduate students at the University of Paris-Saclay.