The negative capacitance (NC) effect has been presented as a possible solution to the necessary reduction of the switching voltage in field effect transistors and could thus contribute to the future development of low power switching devices. The work that we plan to carry out is mainly positioned in the development of mature static NC structures. This maturity will be reached if we can control and stabilize the physical phenomenon at the origin of this NC. To succeed, it will be necessary to develop heterostructures alternating layers of a few nanometers thick made of ferroelectric (FE) materials on the one hand and paraelectric (PA) materials on the other hand, and to control the quality of the interfaces essential to the stabilization of the NC effect. The choice of materials, the control of epitaxial stresses and electrostatic effects will be crucial to bring the NC phenomenon back to near-ambient temperature ranges. The consortium set up for this project intends to take up this challenge and for that it gathers competences and strengths in the elaboration of heterostructures, the fine characterization at the elementary scale of the materials, of their interfaces, of the structure in ferroelectric domains, the electrical characterization of these structures at the local and macroscopic scale in wide frequency and temperature ranges, clean room technologies for the realization of specific test vehicles. In this context, the objectives of the NEGCAP project are: (i) to fabricate model FE/PA structures in superlattice (for direct measurement of negative capacitance) and multilayer (for indirect measurement of NC), (ii) to determine and model the dielectric response of these structures in a wide frequency range, (iii) to probe the properties at the FE/PA interfaces in order to understand the physical phenomena involved, (iv) to identify the fields of application of these structures and to propose "negative capacitance effect at room temperature" structures.

Counterfeiting and more generally identity theft, is a phenomenon that affects all the industrial sectors, from luxury to mass distribution and whose losses are colossal for economy, employment, brand image: in France a cost of 7.3 €billion (0.3% of the Gross Domestic Product) and of 25 000 jobs (about 300 €billion worldwide), adding health and technological risks associated with the counterfeit of certain products. In this context, the ambition of AUSTRAL project is to propose new solutions for authentication applications using two large frequency ranges: millimeter-wave (MW) and Terahertz (THz). These solutions will be low costs, consistent with the techniques of paper industry for mass production, biobased and easily recyclable, these latter two criteria promote a more sustainable development. Project objectives result from previous developments in the field of identification (ANR VERSO "THID", 2009-2013). This project has demonstrated the ability to associate two coding solutions on a single tag: a surface solution for MW encoding and volume solution for a THz encoding. A further study has since been performed on these structures that showed that the quantity of information contained in the electromagnetic signature of such tags is potentially usable for unitary authentication applications. This concept is based on the idea that it can be extremely difficult to reproduce exactly some materials that have a random part, in the image of the distribution of cellulose fibers in a sheet of paper. From this finding, the tag principle for authentication is to put this randomness on the EM tag signature. However, unicity does not ensure it is not possible to clone the tag and to fight against counterfeiting, we must ensure the authenticity of the tag by comparing two signatures: the first generally measured of chain outlet manufacturing and the second when a user needs to authenticate. To enhance security solution, we will look into this project to integrate the solution directly into the materials that comprise the objects, the packaging, or the Mariana on the bottles ... to perform a tamper proof fingerprint. Moreover, we will evaluate the quantity of information contained in such fingerprint that is a key point for applications of interest. More specifically, we propose to design, manufacture, characterize and analyze the quantity of information in several structures using surface and volume encodings that use the MW and THz frequency ranges. Finally, we will choose the most relevant MW and THz structures to achieve an efficient encoding solution and we will define the specifications of a whole encoding system (MW and THz structures, method for information encoding, readers, regulatory aspects). From its main objective, which is to provide new security solutions to fight against a non-violent form of crime that is fraud and counterfeiting, this project fits naturally and primarily in the challenge B.9 (Freedom and security of Europe, its citizens and its residents) - axis 1 (Fundamental research related to the challenge). It indexes several major areas of this challenge about "the safety of persons", "methods for proof research" and "traceability of consumer goods". The expected results of this project affect secondarily the challenge B.7 (Information and communication society) -axis 7 (Micro and nanotechnology for information processing and communication), as the project targets demonstrating quantifiable performance improvements" and "breaks with existing knowledge", based on RF and THz technologies in electronics and photonics, notably in response to the application challenges related to the fight against counterfeiting.

In a recent joint report, the European Police Office (EUROPOL) and the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market (OHIM) pointed out the disastrous economical (200 billion USD per year) and health-related consequences of goods counterfeit. The dreadful events that have recently happened in Europe made evident that travel and identity documents such as passports or ID cards are among the most counterfeited products. Counterfeiters have also benefit of the recent development in fabrication and characterization technologies that paradoxically, had led, to important advances in the Optical Document Security (ODS) domain. There is therefore a need for even more innovative optical security devices involving complex designs and new materials difficult, if not impossible, to fabricate without specialized laboratory equipment. ODISSEA lies within this context. The project aims at developing the first stage towards innovative ODS. That is, a computational tool that should serve to settle the basis for a more efficient and intelligent way to characterize the Diffracted Optically Variable Image Device (DOVID) required for the security applications just mentioned. The ultimate goal of the project is two-folded. From an applicative point of view, we aim at going much further into the analysis of the devices and working principles. We expect to have a modular toolbox that should serve as a starting point for the modeling, characterization and optimization of the relevant optical and material parameters involved in the visual response of DOVIDs. Here we will couple rigorous numerical methods with optimization techniques. A selection of the most suitable numerical tools, commercial or in-house, will be done through a comparison of their performance when applied to reference diffractive/periodic structures provided by SURYS. By combining the most efficient modeling and optimization codes, we expect to design original and efficient DOVIDs, compatible with a mass production. To test the optimized design, a few of the structures will be fabricated. The consortium is going to lean on the fabrication process developed by SURYS (Recombining, roll to roll, layer deposition or varnish deposition) as well as the fast prototyping techniques developed at UTT. To ensure a real feedback between the modeling and the experiment, the fabricated structure must be perfectly known or at least should have an opto-geometrical shape close to that of the structure used in the numerical stage. Other research ways are going to be explored thanks to the partner expertises on the study of the spectral response of nano-particules or the effect of surface roughness on the spectral response of layered structures well suited for mass production. From a more fundamental point of view, we also aim to explore further the capabilities of plasmonic structures combined or not with dielectric resonant waveguides for the design of more efficient and secure DOVIDs. This new and high potential design will rely on the academic partners’ expertise in integrated near field optics. We will explore the possibilities and limitations of combining current holographic technologies, which usually make use of flexible polymeric substrates, with glass integrated optics for security applications such as labeling, optical sensing or filtering, where the use of holographic nano-structured membranes deposed on a glass substrate could be a way to add new functionalities to the low cost glass waveguide technology and further enlarge the application scope for our industrial partner.

The objective of this project is to develop a new coating with saturable absorption and gain medium properties dedicated to telecom applications. This coating is based on YAG: Cr4 + nanocrystals embedded in a sol-gel matrix. The chromium-IV doped YAG is indeed known for its saturable absorption properties around 1060 nm, and also exhibits an amplifying behavior around 1550 nm with a very wide gain bandwidth. However, this material is little used because it is difficult to integrate into existing technologies. During the project, we will aim at producing a coating compatible with both the glass integrated optics platform and the microlasers technology of Teem Photonics, our industrial partner. This study will thus have the potential to increase the portfolio of applications of Teem Photonics in the short term through its integration as a saturable absorber and in the longer term as a gain medium. Two different optical devices will be produced: i) a pulsed microlaser in which our material will be the saturable absorber, reducing the pulse duration of the devices produced by Teem Photonics; and ii) an integrated optics amplifier on glass, in which our coating will be the gain medium. The latter is the first step towards manufacturing an integrated mode-locked laser. This project will be carried out by a consortium of three laboratories and a private company. The three laboratories present a strong synergy allowing the complete development of the proposed coating. On the one hand, the ICCF laboratory in Clermont Ferrand specializes in the development of nanocrystals for optics, in particular based on the YAG matrix. On the other hand, the LaHC laboratory in Saint-Etienne masters the manufacture and characterization of sol-gel coatings and their doping with nanocrystals. Finally, the IMEP-LaHC laboratory specializes in integrated optics on glass and the hybridization of thin coatings on such waveguides. This consortium is completed by the company Teem-Photonics, a specialist in pulsed lasers. This industrial partner will be involved from the start of the project on the qualification of the reliability of the material, so as to ensure that the coating developed during the project is compatible with an industrial application.

New microelectronic applications such as wireless communications or radar detections require increasingly high data rates or resolutions. That implies to work at very high frequencies, in the millimetre waves domain. More specifically, in the frequency range 140-220 GHz (G-band), microelectronic circuits are emerging but suffer from a lack of complete characterization tools. There is a strong need for in wafer integrated measurement set-ups. Hence the BISCIG project aims to integrate, for the first time, a measurement system that would directly and completely measure incoming and outgoing powers, at all ports, and very close to the Device Under Test (DUT). The set-up is proposed in G-band. This project includes two versions. The first version (called "load-pull") concerns large signal power measurements to characterize power amplifiers in millimeter and sub-millimeter-wave bands. External current measurement devices, such as commercial impedance tuners, cannot do that efficiently. Because of their intrinsic losses in G-band, they cannot cover all the impedances of the complex plane to be presented at the output of the power amplifier. The second version will enable to characterize 4-ports DUT with small signal analysis (called “S-parameters”) and to perform differential measurements. Indeed, such instrument does not exist beyond 110 GHz. The BISCIG project therefore meets an industrial need for characterization of devices for new applications and expanding in G-band (high-speed communication systems, radar detection, imagers). Our solution consists in addressing the integrated measurement set-up with a well-known signal covering the 35-55 GHz spectrum. This microwave signal is then amplified and frequency quadrupled in order to address the G-band in the same technology as the DUT. Finally, we measure DC output signals as images of the detected powers, to characterize the behaviour of the DUT. The technology, provided by STMicroelectronics, is the SiGe BiCMOS 55 nm which is very powerful in the millimeter-wave band. The Back End of Line is very well suited to realize passive devices (thick metals in the upper layers). The Front End of Line is completely suitable as well for active devices (fT/fmax = 300/400 GHz). The academic partners will work closely, hand in hand, with the manufacturer STMicroelectronics providing the technology. IMEP-LAHC will design the measurement systems while IEMN will handle the characterization of the component blocks as well as the various sub- systems.