Master in Nanosciences and nanotechnologies

Goal: As the size of systems decreases, surface effects become more important. The nano- scale is also the scale at which surface effects dominate over bulk effects. This course introduces the main notions to adress the specific properties and the organization of matter at surfaces from a physical, chemical and biological point of view.

Content:
- notions on molecular and surface interactions. The hydrophobic effect
- thermodynamics of surfaces ; surface tension
- capillarity, wetting, contact angle
- surfactants,  micelles, self-assemblies and lyotropic phases
- Gibbs monolayers, Langmuir-Blodgett films
- introduction to biologic membranes

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Goal: These lectures will introduce you into the world of coodination chemistry both on a synthetic and a physico-chemical points of view. 

Content:

I. General concepts in coordination chemistry

• Metal ions and ligands
• Nomenclature of complexes
• Geometry of complexes with different coordinence
• Isomerism in coordination compounds

 II. Thermodynamic and kinetic approaches of complexes in solution

• Formation constants: definition and experimental determination
• Chelate effect, a central concept in coordination and supramolecular chemistry
• Applications to supramolecular recognition of cations
• Inertia and lability, essential kinetic notions for understanding complexes reactivity
• Synthesis of complex dedicated ligands: crown-ethers, Schiff bases, polypyridine, ...

III. Electronic structure of metal complexes

• Counting electrons in complexes: the Green's method
• 16/18 electrons rule
• Reactions implying metal complexes
• Application to homogeneous catalysis

• From crystal field to ligand field
• Construction of Molecular Orbitals diagrams of octahedral metal complexes
• Insight into spectroscopic series

IV. Optical properties of metal complexes

• Spectroscopic terms of metal complexes including lanthanide complexes
• Electronic spectroscopy of metal complexes
• Emission of light by metal complexes

V. Magnetic properties of monometallic complexes

• Origins of the magnetic properties of metal complexes
• Magnetic susceptibility
• From Van Vleck equation to Curie law
• Departures from Curie law
• Spin Cross-Over phenomenon: from definition to applications

Article Analysis

Every student will study and present an article dealing with an application strongly related to the contents of the lecture.

Practical teachings:

Four topics of the lectures will be illustrated during four hours experimental work sessions:

• Synthesis and study of the luminescent properties of lanthanide complexes

• Biomimetic model of molybdic oxo-tranferase enzyme

• Synthesis and properties of a iron(II) spin Cross-Over compound [1]

• Syntheis and study of a mixed-valence compound

To anticipate the Lab work, the practical work is written by each student in a dedicated Labwork notebook [2].

[1] A. Vallée et al., J. Chem. Educ. 2013, 90, doi: 10.1021/ed4000487

[2] A. Eisenberg J. Chem. Educ. 1982, 59, 1045.

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Understanding methods for preparing solids, obtaining one phase from another.

Crystallography, characterisation of the crystalline state.

Aqueous chemistry of cations, hydrolysis, condensation.

Solid-state chemistry, preparation of powders, crystals, ceramics. Thermodynamics of solids. Thermodynamics of defects and non-stoichiometry. Corrosion.

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Objectives : Aquire some knowledges about electrochemisty methods as Cyclic Voltammetry (CV) , Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) to characterize electrochemical reactions in solution and immobilized on the surfaces of electrodes.
Examples taken from litterature illustrate the lectures for a better understanding to characterize, investigate electrochemical systems, to elucidate different electrochemical reactions.

Content :

• Lectures + tutorials :13.5 H

- Reminders (1H 30)

- Cyclic Voltammetry (6 H): -Experimental and theoretical basis of voltammetry
Characterization in solution of reversible redox systems, irreversible redox systems,
quasi-reversible redox systems, consecutive redox systems, coupled homogeneous
chemical reactions EC reaction, CE reaction, EC reaction (catalytic) , ECE reactions,′
Characterization of immobilized systems on electrode

- Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (6 H): -Measurement: principle, experimental conditions
Impedance of circuit elements in an electrochemical system, Impedance of electrochemical systems,
Modeling utilizing electric and dielectric parameters

• Lab works : 3 experimental work sessions (3 X 4 H) illustrate topics of lectures

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SpectrumThis course is organized in two parts, each made of nine sessions of 1.5 hours. In each part, five sessions are devoted to lectures, and four sessions are exercice classes devoted to problem-set solving.

The first part encompasses optical spectroscopies and focuses on the interaction of the electrical field component of light with matter. It deals with infrared and UV-visible spectroscopies, based on vibrational and electronic motions in the molecules. Some elements of group theory are presented to explain the occurence of the transitions and the aspect of the spectra related to the molecular structures.

The second part of the course focuses on the interaction of the magnetic field component of light with matter. This part aims at illustrating the principle of magnetic resonance spectroscopies, both nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR), and their use for structure determination, for chemical kinetics and thermodynamics, as well as for molecular dynamics characterization in solution and in the solid state of organic and inorganic molecules and nanomaterials.

Assessments takes place as two written exams of 1 hour each for each part of the course.

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Ce cours se concentrera sur la formation aux étudiants à l’élaboration de curriculum vitae et lettre de motivation, à la préparation aux entretiens d’embauche dans le monde industriel. Une large partie de cet enseignement sera aussi consacrée à la gestion de projets et à la notion d’innovation.

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Goal : Acquire knowledge concerning the methods of macromolecular synthesis and the characteriza-tion of polymers (structure and average molecular mass). The lecture part is dealing on one hand with the chemistry of polymers, and on the other hand with the study of  the physical chemistry of polymers. The discussion section part includes exercises on the following topics in  particular: average molecular masses, polycondensation, free-radical polymerization processes and biopolymers. These exercises allow strengthening the knowledge on these topics.

Content:
I. Part "Chemistry of Polymers"
1. Introduction: definitions, brief history, economical aspects, terminology, technical/economical classification, general features of polymers,    molecular structure (stereoregularity, tacticity), state domains.
2. Biopolymers
            Introduction (conformational aspects).
            Outline of the different families of biopolymers (nucleic acids, proteins and peptides, polysaccharides and other biopolymers).
3. Synthetic polymers. 
            Introduction ;  classification of polymerization reactions.
            Stepwise polymerization reactions:
            General features. 
            Main reactions used in stepwise polymerization processes.
            Kinetic aspects of stepwise polymerizations.
            Chain polymerization reactions.
            Reaction scheme. Initiation and propagation. Termination.
            Kinetic aspects of chain polymerizations.
            Polymerization processes. Controlled free-radical polymerization. Insertion polymerizations
4. Synthesis of thermosetting polymers and of elastomers

II. Part "Physical chemistry of Polymers" (11h Lectures – 7.5h Discussion sections):
1. Analysis of the physico-chemical properties in solution:

•             Viscosimetry, osmometry
•             Light Diffusion
•             GPC, thermodynamics and chain dimensions

2. Gels: Polymer gels

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Goal: This solid-state physics class aims at providing the basics theories that allow to understand the properties of materials, and in particular their electronic and vibrational properties. Why are some solids metallic and other semiconducting ?  How can we describe their electrical and thermal properties ?  Applications to low-dimensional systems (including graphene and nanotubes) will serve as a bridge to nanosciences.

Content: Presentation of simple models and calculations of solids properties:

• Free electrons : classical Drude model.
• Quantum model: Sommerfeld model.
• Metals and insulators : nearly-free quantum model, tight-binding model, Bloch therorem.
• Vibrations in solids: acoustic and optical phonons, sound velocity.

Prerequisites: Electromagnetism, waves and vibrations, basic quantum mechanics.

Bibliography:
Introduction to solid state physics, 8th edition, Charles Kittel.
Solid state physics, Neil Ashcroft and David Mermin.

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Goal:  Mechanics plays a forefront role at the nanoscale,  from the generation of nano-structures by growth instabilities to the properties of nano-composite materials, the design of micro and nano-mechanical devices, the nano-imaging techniques, the control of biologic functions.  This course introduces the mechanics of continuous media and its main applications to nanosciences and nano-technologies.  

Content:
- Simple deformations, definition of elastic modulii E, G, K, nu
- Flexion of beams, static, dynamics and waves. Example: the AFM cantilever.
- 3D linear elasticity of isotropic media: strain tensor ;  elasticity as a field theory (expression of the free energy) ; stress tensor ; general equilibrium equation
- elastic instabilities in thin films
- elasticity of membranes, ADN coil.

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The Research Intensive Training is a trademark of the Master N². It is specifically dedicated to intensify the formation through research, allowing students to the be continuously immersed in their laboratories in parallel to their courses, during the 2 years of the program.

For this purpose, students can choose up to 3 optional RIT modules of 3 credits each, one in each semester of the program, except for the last semester which is already fully devoted to the master thesis.

A RIT module consists in a part-time internship in a lab of the Grenoble area, representing 1 day each week during a semester. RIT modules are thought to be performed in the same research teams on the same research project, allowing students to achieve a substantial research contribution with possibly a publication during their master.  However students can also change lab, project or research team, with the agreement of their program coordinator, in order to get a broader scientific experience. Students can then discover ongoing research in nanosciences not only in their specialization but also in sister disciplines. It also offers them an opportunity to initiate connections in view of finding their master thesis subject.

RIT modules are evaluated through a short report followed by an oral examination, in which students expose their research objectives, implementation, and results, and answer to the questions of the jury. RIT performed in the second semester of the first year can be evaluated together with the compulsory M1 research internship.

Admission to Research Intensive Training modules requires the agreement of the school-year coordinator.  In M1, the training is fully appropriate to students having completed a 4-years bachelor of science, or engineering, however 3-year's bachelors who have excellent academic results can also be admitted to the RIT.

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This course is open and mandatory only for students taking part to the Thematic Program (PT) Soft Nano (Graduate School).

Students undertake a research project in soft nanosciences, starting by an appropriation phase. The goal of the course is to learn how to plan, set-up, and write, a research proposal.

Content

Students spend 1+1/2 day per week in their research team. In addition the group meets on a weekly basis, and works on the following topics:

• reading and synthetizing the scientific literature
• understanding the novelty of the approach to be developed
• defining the research objectives
• defining the new tools /techniques/ know-how needed for the project, starting to acquire them
• elaborating a tentative schedule for implementation of the 2-year research work, with milestones

Students take turns in presenting their progress to the promotion.
In addition to this continous activity, they are evaluated at the end of the term through:
- the submission of a research proposal (about 15 pages, including a state-of-the-art, novelty and objectives of approach, new  instrumentation/ elaboration/ numerics/ methodology to be developed, expected outcomes, scheme and schedule of implementation)
- an oral public presentation and defense of their proposal,  in presence of all the promotion and of a unique pluridisciplinary jury for all students.

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• To address multidisciplinary approaches in nanosciences through a set of practical work.
• To train on high-tech platforms in nanosciences and in nanotechnology.
• To understand chemical methods of nanomaterials synthesis by a bottom-up approach.
• To learn the physical principles and practice of nanomaterials characterization techniques

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The Nanosciences course offers high level experimental training and labwork performed in the nano-facilities and technology centers of UGA: CIME-Nanotech, CUBE, Chemistry platform.

Nanosciences Labwork

This course addresses the pluridisciplinar aspect of nanosciences and in nanotechnologies. The goal is to train students at the interface between the different sciences: chemistry and physics (Part I), physics and biology (Part II), and show the importance of a collaborative approach to the production and the characterization of nanoscale objects. Courses are in support for understand the great principles of the bottom-up approach in nanochemistry, the physical principle of different methods of characterization in nanosciences (AFM, SEM, TEM) and the elementary principles in biophysics. The pedagogical team is composed of teachers working in the field of nanochemistry, nanophysics and biophysics. The different practical work taking place on various practical teachings platforms located in Grenoble allowing the use of characterizations equipment at the forefront of nanoscience research.

Nano-biophysics

This course  is devoted to the Morphological and the Mechanical studies of biological cells fixed on a micro-functionalized pattern, by Atomic Force and Fluorescence Microscopies techniques. It consists of 14h of lectures addressing  biochemical and physical concepts at the nanoscale, and 12h of labwork taking place at the CUBE and CIME-Nanotech.

• To address multidisciplinary approaches in nanosciences through a set of practical work.
• To train on high-tech platforms in nanosciences and in nanotechnology.
• To understand chemical methods of nanomaterials synthesis by a bottom-up approach.
• To learn the biophysical principles of the interface between nanomaterials and animal cells.

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The internship is a key step of the M1 since in many cases it is the first long stay in a Research lab to develop an original scientific topics. The internship lasts a minimum of 8 weeks between April to June, on a subject related to nanosciences or nanotechnologies.
The internship can be a performed in a research institute of the Grenoble area or abroad, or in a company.
Students conduct a research project under the guidance of their supervisor. The internship can be extended during the summer up a to length of 4 months.

At the end of June students have to produce a report of about 20 pages including the bibliography. The report introduces their subject, the state of the art, and their objectives. It describes the methods they have used, their realizations, and discusses the results obtained during the internship. The reports concludes by giving perspectives of the performed work.
The students have then an oral defense based on a presentation of 15mn followed by 10mn of questions.

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1. INTRODUCTION

2. BASIC PHOTOPHYSICAL PROCESSES

2.1. Creating excited states by light absorption
2.2. Properties of excited states
2.2.1. Geometry
2.2.2. Acid-base properties
2.2.3. Redox properties
2.2.4. Dipolar moment
2.3. Deactivation of the excited electronic states
2.3.1. Non-radiative transitions
2.3.2. Radiative transitions
2.3.3. Parameters
2.3.4. Experimental measurement

3. QUENCHING OF EXCITED STATES

3.1. Kinetics of Stern-Volmer

3.2. Energy transfer reaction (electronic)
3.2.1. Radiative energy transfer
3.2.2. Non-radiative energy transfer by resonance
3.2.3. Non-radiative energy transfer by exchange
3.3. Electron transfer reactions
2.3.1. Energy aspect
3.3.2. Kinetic aspect
3.3.3. Application of electron transfer to conversion and storage of solar energy
3.4. Excimers and exciplexes
3.5. Time-resolved spectroscopy method

4. PHOTONICS OF SOLIDS AND NANOPARTICLES
4.1. Introduction
4.2. Exciton formation
4.3. Applications of photonics of solids
5. PHOTOCHEMICAL AND PHOTOCHROMIC REACTIONS
5.1. Photochemical reactions
5.1.1. The biradical reactions
5.1.2. Pericyclic reactions
5.2. Photochromic reactions

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The study of thin-film materials is the basis of several research projects and sectors of activity. Indeed, the thin film state covers activities ranging from optics for the development of waveguides or anti-reflection layers, to microelectronics for the production of semiconductor layers or for the production of energy in fuel cell devices. This course will present an overview of the thin film states and its specificities trough 3 chapters:
• What could we call a thin film? What implies this specific state?
• Brief presentation of the physical techniques (PVD, PLD, evaporation…) and more specific description of the chemical routes (ALD, CVD and Sol-Gel chemistry)
• General tools of morphology characterization will be presented first. Special care will be given to the specific tools for structural determination (Grazing incidence XRD, texture measurments and Transmission Electron Microscopy).

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This lecture aims to present the main classes of material and their physical properties via two complementary approaches. One is based on the bondings between atoms and how these bonds influence the elastic, thermal, and electrical conductivity properties of materials, whereas the second one is related to the Fermi surface analysis.  Microscopical models of physical phenomena like permittivity, piezoelectricity, or ferromagnetism will be described and how the material properties change at the surface.

Contents

Chapter 0 : Introduction - Functional materials
Chapter 1: The various types of bonds and the classes of materials
Chapter 2: Relationship between bonds and simple properties of materials
(thermal, mechanical, electrical properties)
Chapter 3:  Quantum models of materials (Sommerfeld and band theory)
Chapter 4:  Dielectric, ferroelectric, piezoelectric, and magnetic properties
           and their measurements.
Chapter 5:  Surface properties

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The applications of surface functionalization are multiple and cover large fields at the interface between chemistry and biology. The aim of this course is to focus on two challenging applications: surface functionalization for biosensors and for (electro)catalysis. The course is structured into two modules differentiated by the nature of the functionalized material which (mineral/inorganic or biological).

Contents:

I. Short introduction on biomolecules (DNA, proteins, enzymes, sugars…)

II. Functionalization of mineral and inorganic based-materials and related characterization techniques (fluorescence microscopy, AFM, SEM, ellipsometry…)

  DNA, sugars and proteins

• Physisorption, chemisorption
• Self-assembly on conducting and semi-conducting surfaces (silanization, thiol self assembly)
• Electrofunctionnalization: conducting polymers, diazonium salts
• Auto-organization of biomolecules : origami, DNA wires, protein auto-assembly, protein organized around organizing structure (Metals…)
•  Applications: biosensors, stimulating electrodes and anti-fouling surfaces

Catalysts

• Functionnalization
• Applications: (photo)electrocatalytic water splitting (reduction of protons, water oxidation), CO2 reduction

Enzymes

• Functionnalization
• Applications: hydrogenases, CO2 reductase …

III. Functionnalization of bio-based nanomaterials
DNA

•  Functionnalization with catalysts
•  Applications

Proteins

•  Functionnalization (bioconjugation) with catalysts (artificial enzymes) and nanoparticles
•  Applications

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This course is an introductory course on molecular electronics and magnetism accessible for both chemists and physicists. Accordingly, it will be given by a physicist and a chemist to browse the two aspects of the subject. It will present in an illustrated and accessible fashion the principles of quantum  electron transport in molecular and nanoscale devices and offer an overview of this active field of Nanosciences. It will insist on the effect of inserting magnetically active molecules in such set-ups.

Contents :

• Physical/Chemical basis (distinct lecture for the two publics to bring them to a common language)
• Mesoscopic transport
• Magnetic anisotropy in Transion Metal and Lanthanide complexes
• One-electron transistor
• Transport through a quantum box
• Single Molecule Magnets (SMM)
• Grafting and probing SMM on surfaces
• Article analysis

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This course gives an overview of the polymer field from the synthesis of polymers to characterization, properties, and applications of synthetic and natural polymers. All major polymerization methods, their reaction mechanisms and kinetic aspects are considered: step growth polymerization, chain growth polymerization with ionic and radical variations, insertion polymerization. A lecture portion is integrated with a laboratory component, in which experiments are conducted that are directly connected to the class work. Analysis of  polymer solution properties and caracterization techniques are presented :  thermodynamics, polymer/solvent interactions, average molecular weight determination via osmometry, ligth scattering, viscosimetry and SEC.

This course is divided in two parts covering selected aspects of polymer chemistry and physical chemistry. The chemistry part aims to help students better understand contemporary polymer science focusing on syntheses and materials properties of polymers. It covers copolymer synthesis, discussing control of copolymer composition and relevant recent research such as controlled radical polymerization, supramolecular polymers and bio-based polymers. The course will also provide detailed information for polymerization techniques and polymer characterization tools.

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Goal: Introduction to local probes techniques in the field of nanosciences and nanotechnologies.

Content

1. Introduction to Scanning Probes Microscopy (1h30)

• Comparison between surface analysis techniques: SEM/TEM, SFA
• Presentation of the SPM sub-families: STM / SFM / SNOM via examples of applications

2. The Scanning Tunneling Microscope (7h)

• The tunneling effect
  • STM relevant parameters
  • Expression of the tunneling current
• The STM instrument
  • Tip fabrication methods
  • Electronic and instrumental chain to measure and control tunnelling current in the pico/nano-ampere range ADC/DAC, I/V converter, lock-in amplifier
  • Source of noises and detection limit
  • Vibration isolation (tutorial on transfer function and damping)
  • Measurement at low temperature : how to operate an STM in a cryostat>
• Operating STM modes and associated measurements
  • Local density of states (LDOS) and I/V spectroscopy
  • Constant current mode versus constant height mode

3. The Atomic Force Microscope (12h)

• Why mechanical oscillators
  • Introduction and history
  • Mechanical susceptibility
  • Limits of sensitivity (readout noise and Brownian motion)
  • Working at resonance, decrease the size/mass
• How to build an AFM
  • Micro fabrication of cantilever and tips
  • Nano positioning (piezo material and issues with them as hysteresis…)
  • Precision position measurements (optical and capacitive)
  • Signal analysis (Homodyne detection, PLL and PID)
• Operating AFMs
  • Calibration process (cantilever stiffness, position detection)
  • What physical values are accessible (van der Waals, electrical, magnetic, friction forces)
  • Different modes of operation
• Maps analysis and image processing
  • Surface analysis parameters: rms, ra, skewness, kurtosis, etc
  • Artefacts, tip dilation effect
  • Tilt correction via polynomial subtraction and color scale
  • Tutorial on processing of the images and spectroscopy curves obtained in PW via Gwyddion software

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In the context of intensive research on post-CMOS electronics, a new families of nano-materials has opened new avenues in different fields, including optoelectronics and quantum information. These low-dimensional systems are a new playground to understand the interactions between elementary excitations, electron-phonon and phonon-phonon, which play a major role in the behavior of electron transport and heat at this nanoscale. For example, the reduction of dimensionality in the case of graphene has made the adiabatic approximation obsolete. Thus, the electron-phonon coupling is so strong that the optical phonons can be modulated by an external electric field but also as has been recently shown by an optical grid.

The important advances in the control of graphene electronic properties, open the way to new two-dimensional materials. Thus, monolayers of Dichalcogenides of Transition Metals such as MoS₂ (MoSe₂, WS₂, WSe₂, …etc.) have appeared very recently as promising nanostructures for applications in both the field of optics and electronics. We will discuss the growth of such materials including the fabrication of heterostructures based on graphene (semi-metal), boron nitride (insulator) and MoS₂ (semiconductor) and their physical properties. Indeed marrying different 2D systems can take advantage of the properties of each part and more since the resulting hybrid is more than the sum of its parts.

This lecture will give an overview of the physical properties of graphene on the one hand, new 2D semiconductors like MoS₂ on the other hand and will open on the heterostructures. We will discuss their growth, band structure, phonons, electron-phonon coupling, excitons in MoS₂, the spin / valley polarization but also the prototype components (transistor, photodiode, LED ...) based on this new class of materials.

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Goal: This course will give a general view on the topic of photon or wave interactions with matter at various energy scales and length scales.

Content
In the first part, we will focus on the problem of the propagation of an electromagnetic wave when the wavelength is large (UV, optical, etc.) compared to the interatomic distances. The problem of polarization of the medium in metals and in semiconductors (Drude, Lorentz, interband, etc.) will be discussed and surface plasmons which are longitudinal excitations at the SC-metal interface will be treated. Finally, we will discuss how we can localize light on length scales smaller than the wavelength (e.g. nanoparticles). This part will be completed by a section on the Kramers-Kronig relations that link reflectance to absorption. The second part of the course will focus on phenomena where the incident wavelength is much smaller, such that matter can be resolved to atomic scales. The problem of structure factors and their interpretation in terms of correlation functions (neutrons, X, etc.) will be discussed.

References

1. Zangwill, Modern Electrodynamics, Cambridge University Press.
2. D. Tanner, Optical Effects in Solids, Cambridge University Press.
3. P. Chaikin and T. Lubensky, Principles of Condensed Matter Physics, Cambridge University Press.

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The Research Intensive Training is a trademark of the Master N². It is specifically dedicated to intensify the formation through research, allowing students to the be continuously immersed in their laboratories in parallel to their courses, during the 2 years of the program.

For this purpose, students can choose up to 3 optional RIT modules of 3 credits each, one in each semester of the program, except for the last semester which is already fully devoted to the master thesis.

A RIT module consists in a part-time internship in a lab of the Grenoble area, representing 1 day each week during a semester. RIT modules are thought to be performed in the same research teams on the same research project, allowing students to achieve a substantial research contribution with possibly a publication during their master.  However students can also change lab, project or research team, with the agreement of their program coordinator, in order to get a broader scientific experience. Students can then discover ongoing research in nanosciences not only in their specialization but also in sister disciplines. It also offers them an opportunity to initiate connections in view of finding their master thesis subject.

RIT modules are evaluated through a short report followed by an oral examination, in which students expose their research objectives, implementation, and results, and answer to the questions of the jury. RIT performed in the second semester of the first year can be evaluated together with the compulsory M1 research internship.

Admission to Research Intensive Training modules requires the agreement of the school-year coordinator.  In M1, the training is fully appropriate to students having completed a 4-years bachelor of science, or engineering, however 3-year's bachelors who have excellent academic results can also be admitted to the RIT.

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Mandatory course for the students of the Soft Nano Thematic program (PT) of the Graduate School.

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Nanotechnologies give access to new and interesting properties of materials. Applications or potential applications of nanomaterials are today very numerous in research, industrial processes but also everyday life. As a consequence, impact on health and safety of those new substances becomes important. Indeed, assessment on life cycle analysis is a key element of development. This course presents the current knowledge and research regarding the potential risks associated to the development of nanotechnologies, organized around 3 axes:

• Toxicology and ecotoxicology current knowledge, thanks to presentation of latest scientific studies on the subject,
• occupationnal potential risks : how to manage an emerging risk ? what’s mandatory ? what kind of metrology can we use ? what are the best practices in order to prevent impact on health and environment ?
• social perception of nanotechnologies over the world and over different cultures.

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The lecturers will browse the different aspects of the synthesis of bulk molecular materials and bottom-up strategies towards the corresponding molecular nanoobjects. This approach is based on the use of well-defined precursors and a good control of the conditions in which they react together in order to master the topology/dimensionality, size/nuclearity, shape and dispersity of the bulk materials and nanoobjects. A special attention will be paid to their characterization using single-crystal X-ray diffraction and to their magnetic and electrochemical properties.

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The applications of nanoparticles in research and innovation are multiple and cover large fields. The aim of this course is to present the main areas of application of nanoparticles in current research. In addition, the specific properties of selected types of particles will be discussed as well as surface functionalization strategies required for realizing the presented applications. The course is structured into three modules differentiated by the types of application.

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Goal:

To demonstrate the novelty and advances in the field of nanostructured materials and architectured coatings for dedicated functions. Their properties and applications especially in the domain of materials for energy and sustainability will be illustrated.

The different aspects of the bottom-up strategy towards nano-objects will be discussed for the fabrication of nanostructured powders and coatings. Processes using a vapor phase such as Chemical Vapor deposition and Atomic Layer Deposition will be presented in details: principles, applications, technological aspects and modelling. Special attention is focused on multimaterials stability through thermodynamics considerations.

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The Second year Research Training can take two different forms:

- 10 half-days spent in identified labs on recurrent subjects proposed by the coordinator of the teaching unit ;

- a part-time internship in a lab of the Grenoble area, representing more or less 1 day each week during a semester. In can be on the same subject as the M1 internships and/or of the future M2 internships, allowing a continuous immersion in a laboratory on a given for the whole duration of the master program. Students joining the program in M2 can also follow this program but they must readily find a welcoming lab by themselves prior to their arrival in Grenoble or at the very beginning of the academic year.

In both cases, the module is evaluated through a short report followed by an oral examination, in which students expose their research objectives, implementation, and results, and answer to the questions of the jury.

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This course addresses the elaboration and characterization methods of main polymer materials (polymer electrolytes, electrode binder) for alternative energies: i.e. fuel cells, batteries, super-capacitor, flexible solar cells, etc.  
The course will also provide a background on critical issues on the main conjugated and conducting polymers used as the active materials (polymers, semiconductors and organic conductors) for the electronics applications. The different methods of chemical, electrochemical synthesis and recent synthetic methodologies will be reviewed. The underlying scientific principles that guide the study of structure-property relationships and the supramolecularity effects on the modulation of electronic properties will be discussed. Applications of these polymers in their undoped (organic solar cell, antistatic layers…) and doped state (corrosion, actuators,  electrochromic, sensors ...) will be described.

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This course will provide background on critical issues in synthesis, fabrication, processing, and characterization of material nanocomposites. We will discuss the underlying scientific principles that guide the study of structure-property relationships and will touch on parallel fields of investigation with high relevance to nanocomposites. The course will also cover the incorporation of a variety of nanophases into polymeric matrixes to provide functional materials, the importance of controlling surface energy, methods for achieving dispersion and common techniques for characterizing nanocomposite materials. The influence of the chemical nature of the dispersed (organic or mineral) elements on the different morphologies observed will be described. This lectures will discuss new concepts and knowledge within the field of electrochemical energy storage applications of nanocomposites.
The scope of this class is also to provide basic knowledge about graphene and to show how graphene based materials are being developed for a wide range of applications, notably in the field of energy storage. The basic of graphene structure and properties will be addressed along with the different graphene preparation methodologies. A focus will be made of graphene characterization. Considering that surface functionalization is a key tool to modulate graphene properties, various grafting methods will be presented. An important part of the course will be dedicated to the description of examples of how and why graphene is of interest for Li-ion batteries and supercapacitors applications. To widen the student appreciation of graphene use versatility, other examples of applications will be discussed such as fuel-cells, PV-related applications and others.

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Goal

The applications of surface functionalization are multiple and cover large fields. The aim of this course is to focus on two challenging applications: the conception of biosensors and (photo)electrocatalysis. The course is structured into two modules differentiated by the types of application.

1.    Surface functionalization for the fabrication of biosensors (12h)

• Functionalization and electrofunctionalization (AS)
• Applications to olfactory biosensors and biomimetic electronic noses (YHB)
• Application to the conception of cell chips and detection of bacteria (YR)
• Biomolecular assemblies and self-organization of biomolecules on surfaces (DG, PHE)

2.    (Photo)electrocatalysis applications (12h)

• Introduction to (photo)electrocatalysis (VA)
• Molecular engineering of nanomaterials for (bio)electrocatalysis in energy-related sytems (AL)
• Surface functionalization for photo(electro)catalysis: from photovoltaics to solar water splitting and CO2 conversion (BR, DA)
• Micro/nanostructure in electrocatalysis (PC)

The sessions will be given by a series of experts in the field. The teachers will coordinates to focus especially on the most essential aspect of functionalization, such as grafting stability, mastering distance between graft and surface, ensuring optimal electronic transfer, passivation, ecofriendliness. Particularly for biosensors, the surface chemistry should allow to maintain the integrity of the grafted biomolecules or biological objects.
Part of the sessions will be devoted to critical analysis of some selected literature papers in detail and sorting out the functionalization strategies and its consequences.

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Introduce the main analytical techniques to characterize molecular and biomolecular interactions, nanomaterials, surfaces and interfaces will be presented by the lecturers.

• Electronic microscopies
• Near field microscopies (AFM,STM,SNOM,…)
• Note that a more detailed approach of these techniques is available as an elective course.
• Surface analysis (XPS, AES, SIMS, EXAFS…)
• X-ray diffraction
• Large facilities (neutrons, ESRF)
• Optical techniques (ellipsometry, spectroscopies, SPR, OWLS,..)
• Nanogravimetry 

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This course is at the crossroad between two important scientific and technological domains: energy and nanomaterials. Indeed both domains are rich in innovations, challenges and opportunities. For instance, among other sustainable green energy technologies, solar energy has been and is still developed to offer an alternative to fossil fuel energy, with efforts devoted for instance to cost reduction, efficiency improvement and use of abundant materials. We will see how nanomaterials can help improving performance of devices related to energy, and thus in very different domains (solar energy, building, energy storage…). The course will first deal with the contexts linked with energies and nanomaterials. The synthesis, characterization and main properties of nanomaterials will be presented. Applications will deal with: solar energy and nanomaterials, other energy production and nanomaterials, energy storage and finally nanomaterials and energy in buildings.

Content
This course will be presented by different scientists aiming at presenting physical and chemical aspects of nanomaterials, as well as with complementary approaches such as fundamental, experimental and applied ones. In addition to basic concepts many illustrations and challenges still persisting will be briefly presented during the whole course.
Chapter 1 : Energies and nanomaterials: generalities
Chapter 2 : Nanomaterials & nanotechnologies : an introduction
Chapter 3 – Solar energy and nanomaterials                                                
Chapter 4 – Other energy conversion technologies and nanomaterials
Chapitre 5 – Energy storage                                                           
Chapitre 6 – Nano-materials and energy in buildings

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This course will be focused on the main nanofabrication and characterization techniques used in clean-rooms in research laboratory and semi-industrial environments for the fabrication of current and future semiconductor devices. It will combine regular lectures and a practical training on nanobiotechnology in clean room facilities.

Outline
This course will include a first part covering the main nanofabrication and characterization techniques used in clean-rooms and
a second part dedicated to a practical training.

• The first part will be taught as regular lectures. The principles of these techniques will be presented and illustrated through concrete examples obtained in the clean-rooms of the Minatech Campus in Grenoble. This course will provide you with the basics of technological steps, thin film deposition techniques, lithography processes, and advanced characterization used during the fabrication of single devices up to their large-scale integration.
• The practical training (second part) will consist in the construction of a micro-patterned device using state-of-the art microfabrication techniques. Fluorescently marked cells will be deposited on the constructed micropatterns and different cell.

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Part I Nanofabrication in research labs:

Yannick Le Tiec (CEA) Franck Bassani (CEA) Philippe Rodriguez (CEA)

This part will cover the main nanofabrication and characterization techniques used in clean-rooms in research laboratory and semi-industrial environments for the fabrication of current and future semiconductor devices. The principles of these techniques will be presented and illustrated through concrete examples obtained in the clean-rooms of the Minatech Campus in Grenoble. This course will provide you with the basics of technological steps, thin film deposition techniques, lithography processes, and advanced characterization used during the fabrication of single devices up to their large-scale integration.

Content :

• Substrates/Materials (Si / Ge / SiGe / SOI / sSOI / Si28 / III-V….)
• Surface preparation (Batch / Single Wafer – Baths / Sprays / Cryogenics /…)
• Thin film deposition of semiconductors, insulators and metals (PVD / CVD / ECD /…
• Lithography (Photo / E-beam / Imprint) and etching (Wet / Dry) processes
• Ion implantation
• Chemical Mechanical polishing
• Molecular bonding (Wafer to Wafer / Hybrid bonding / Die to wafer / ….)
• Characterisation techniques (SPM / SEM-EDX / XRF / Ellipsometry / XPS / XRF / PL / Raman / XRD / …)

Part II : VLSI nanofabrication processes :

Maud Vinet (Quobly)

This second part describes the devices that are currently used and developed to sustain Moore’s law: it spans the transistor technologies from bulk, to Finfet and FDSOI with their pros and cons and how they are manufactured, with a quick overview of the semiconductor industry players. It also describes the evolution of Moore’s law and how it has moved from transistor to memory centric after having hit the limits of scaling, we have switched from dimensions scaling only to the introduction of new computing paradigms such as in memory computing to sustain the performance improvement of integrated circuits. Finally, it screens all the devices that are developed in order to overcome scaled transistors limitations with a strong emphasis on silicium spin qubits seen as a major contender to enable quantum computing.

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This course will be dedicated to advanced characterization techniques of nanostructures. It will cover electron microscopy techniques (electron diffraction, loss spectroscopy, imaging), X ray spectroscopy and scattering techniques and Synchrotron radiation measurements.

Content

X-ray scattering (from single electron to periodic material, anomalous scattering)
Reciprocal space (reminder +
Surface sensitive X-ray scattering
X-ray absorption fine structure
Examples of application : strain and composition determination, in situ studies of growth
Introduction to the X-ray synchrotron radiation production (including the forth generation source like the ESRF Extremely Brilliant Source)
Coherent X-ray scattering and X-ray photon correlation spectroscopy
The basis of electron microscopy
Electron diffraction and Electron loss Spectroscopy
Imaging and chemical sensitivity (Transmission Electron Microscopy and Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy)
Case studies

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Goal: The aim of the lecture is to give an overview of the neutrons based and X-ray based techniques suitable for the study of soft matter at the nanoscale.

Content: The first part of the lecture will go into details of the dynamical structure factor S(Q,w), its relations with the properties of the materials, and how it can be extracted from short length scale radiation scattering.

The second part will focus on more specific techniques such as small angle scattering and reflectometry for structural investigations, inelastic and quasi-elastic scattering for the study of the dynamics, and the complementarity between the different radiations. Instrumental aspects of the last generation of instruments developed at large scale facilities will be presented.

The last part will describe the most advanced X-ray techniques based on absorption (ASAXS, EXAFS, GISAXS….) and coherent imaging (CXDI, pychography…).

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The first part will give an overview of semiconductor devices trends and evolutions for calculations. Limits of traditional architectures as transistors and memories will be studied. Then we will described emerging solutions for calculations and memories including devices and architectures for advanced computing and artificial intelligence. The second part will address the physics of light emitting diodes.

Part I Semiconductor devices trends and evolutions for calculation

I.1 Moore's law limits and solutions
    MOSFET nano-transistors basics
    Static and dynamic power
    New architectures (Finfet, Nanowires)
    Dynamic power regulation
    Variability at ultimate scaling
I.2 Memories
    Volatile memories
    DRAM
    SRAM
    Non-volatile memories : Flash memories
I.3 Emerging non-volatile memories
     Resistive random access memories (OxRAM, CBRAM, PCRAM)
     Crossbar and 3D architectures
     Magnetic random access memories and spintronics
I.4 3D Technologies for heterogeneous integration
     2D integration limitations
     Parallel 3D
     Sequential 3D
     Applications to advanced calculations, smart imagers, photonics.
 I.5 From CMOS to single electron devices
     New phenomena at ultimate scaling
     Low temperature electronics
     Single electron transistor
     Toward (single) spin electronics and quantum calculations
 I.6 Emerging computing paradigms for AI
     Some basics of neuromorphic computing
     Convolutional neuronal networks
     Spiking neurones using resistive memories
     Fading the limits been memory and calculation.

Part II Light emitting diodes: Physics and devices


II.1 Fundamentals of radiative recombination in semiconductors.
II.2 Homojunction vs heterojunction Light emitting diodes.
II.3 Light emitting diode materials: growth and fabrication techniques.
II.4 Light emitting diode efficiency (injection, extraction).
II.5 Specificity of III-nitride Light emitting diodes (e.g. internal electric field, disorder).

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Goal: From the sequencing and electronic analysis of single molecules, to waste water treatment, desalinisation, or osmotic energy harvesting, , nanopores and membranes technologies are a rapidly growing area of nanosciences with increasing applications in the fields of sustainable energy, environment, and nanobiotechnologies. The aim of the course is to provide the theoretical concepts governing the transport of fluids, ions and molecules in nanochannels and confined spaces.  It will highlight the new properties and functionnalities which arise from the interplay of surface interactions in solutions,  flow and transport.

 Content:
1. A general overview of nanopores and membrane technologies.
2. The basics of surface transport in fluids
     . Flow and diffusion at a nano-scale
     . Ions and molecule surface interactions in fluids
3. Coupled transport at surfaces and in nano-channels.
      Electro-osmosis, diffusio-osmosis and beyond
      Weak out-of-equilibrium limit and Onsager relations
      From nano properties to macroscopic efficiency
      Example of application: energy harvesting/conversion     
4. Non-linear and rectification effects.
     Nano-fluidic diodes, osmotic diode, and transistor.
5. Nano-pores for single molecules transport and detection
6. Membranes for fuel cells.

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Part I: Epitaxy of semiconductor nanostructures

The goal of part is to introduce the crystal growth techniques of nanostructures, illustrated by examples taken in field of semiconductor nanostructures. After an introduction of the basics of the epitaxy, the elastic strain will be discussed in the case of planar heteroepitaxy leading to elastic or plastic deformations. Thus, the different ways to growth nanostructure from quantum wells to quantum dots will be presented. Additionally, last advances on nanostructures growth will be presented by introducing the selective area growth (SAG) and the Van Der Waals epitaxy (VDWE).

Chap. 1: Epitaxy basics and growth techniques.
Homoepitaxy, Vicinal surfaces, Physisorption/chemisorptions
Frank-Van der Merwe growth
Ehrlich Schwöbel barrier and surface morphology
Growth techniques: Molecular beam epitaxy and chemical vapor deposition

Chap. 2: Heteroepitaxy: from elastic strain to plastic relaxation.
Pseudomorphic/metamorphic growths
Elastic biaxial strain model
Plastic relaxation by misfit dislocation formation: importance of the critical thickness
Elastic relaxation: Stranski-Krastanow growth mode
Evolution of growth modes: Competition between surface energy and elastic energy

Chap. 3: Growth of semiconductor nanostructures
Epitaxial growth of quantum wells (2D) to quantum dots (0D)
Epitaxial of quantum nanowires (1D): catalyst and catalyst-free growths
Selective area growth (SAG)
Van der Waals epitaxy (VDWE) of 2D semiconductor material – Remote epitaxy
Hybrid growths

Part II:  Electronic properties of graphene and 2D materials: transport and optical properties:

II.1 Conventional 2D electron gases (2DEG) in semiconductor heterostructures
II.2 Electronic properties of graphene heterostructures
     II.2.1 Introduction
     II.2.2 Material and tight binding band structure
     II.2.3 Hall bar devices and basic transport properties
     II.2.4 Quantum transport: integer quantum Hall effect
     II.2.5 Optical properties
II.3 Review of other 2D materials: twisted graphene bilayers, transition metal dichalcogenides, topological insulators.

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From 2004, ESONN is a two-week course aimed at providing training for graduate students, postdoctoral and junior scientists from universities and laboratories, all around the world, in the field of Nanosciences and Nanotechnologies.    https://www.esonn.fr

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This series of lectures might be offered by invited professors. 

Accordingly its contents changes and it is not systematically opened.

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The Master's thesis project is a personal research work curried out during the second year of the master, to which the entire spring semester is devoted. For this purpose students perform an internship of minimum 5 months in a research team.  As a graduate student, you will be responsible for a specific project in nanosciences under the guidance of a thesis supervisor. You will have the opportunity to collaborate with PhD students, post-docs, full-position researchers and professors.

The master thesis is evaluated by a thesis manuscript and a public defense. In this manuscript the student is expected to:

• Provide a clear definition of the scientific or technological problem addressed
• Demonstrate mastery of the scientific literature related to the problem
• Describe the chosen approach to solve the problem, and present the results obtained
• Perform a scientific discussion of these results in relation to the state of the art

The public defense is held in front of a jury, which evaluates the completion of the above expectations through the student presentation and answers to questions. The defense also prepares students to the concourses held by the Grenoble's doctoral schools for the attribution of UGA funded PhD's positions.

According to the french law, the research institute will pay you a "gratification" of 530€/month during your research internship, for a maximum duration of 6 months in a given school year.

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Goal: This course is a deepening of the quantum mechanics concepts introduced in the undergraduate courses. The fundamental principle of quantum mechanics are illustrated by applications to nanoscale condensed-matter systems taken from recent research works and by discussing prospects for quantum information technologies. The concepts presented in this course are prerequisites for many second-year courses related to nanophysics and quantum engineering. A good knowledge in quantum mechanics is indeed more and more essential for technological research and development of nanoscale quantum devices.

Content

• Chapter 1: Introduction and recalls on the quantum mechanics postulates and formalism (Dirac notation, Hilbert space). Two-level system, Zeeman effect, spin Hamiltonian. Tensorial product notation for states and operators. Many-body quantum states (bosons and fermions).
  Exercices: Basics of quantum mechanics formalism.
• Chapter 2: Recalls on confinement problem. Electron bound states in a potential.
  Exercises: Example of 1D confinement problems, quantum harmonic oscillator.
• Chapter 3: Introduction to atomic physics. Spherical symmetry, angular and spin kinetic momenta. Mean field approximation, central potential, many electrons atoms, Hund rules, spin-orbit coupling, optical transitions.
  Exercises: Grotrian diagrams, spin-orbit coupling, fine and hyperfine structure.
• Chapter 4: Approximation methods for eigenstate calculations, perturbation theory, variational method.
  Exercises: Application to electronic systems.
• Chapter 5: Time evolution. General equation for the time evolution, two-level systems, perturbation theory, Fermi golden rules.
  Exercises: Application to Rabi oscillations.

Prerequisites: Basics of quantum mechanics.

Bibliography: Quantum mechanics, C. Cohen-Tannoudji, Vol. 1, ISBN-13: 978-0471164333, Vol. 2, ISBN-13: 978-0471569527.

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Goal: This solid-state physics class aims at providing the basics theories that allow to understand the properties of materials, and in particular their electronic and vibrational properties. Why are some solids metallic and other semiconducting ?  How can we describe their electrical and thermal properties ?  Applications to low-dimensional systems (including graphene and nanotubes) will serve as a bridge to nanosciences.

Content: Presentation of simple models and calculations of solids properties:

• Free electrons : classical Drude model.
• Quantum model: Sommerfeld model.
• Metals and insulators : nearly-free quantum model, tight-binding model, Bloch therorem.
• Vibrations in solids: acoustic and optical phonons, sound velocity.

Prerequisites: Electromagnetism, waves and vibrations, basic quantum mechanics.

Bibliography:
Introduction to solid state physics, 8th edition, Charles Kittel.
Solid state physics, Neil Ashcroft and David Mermin.

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Laser and nonlinear optics - 20h
The laser aspects will focus on the study of the gain medium and the resonator including the notions of oscillation threshold, Gaussian optics, stability, cavity modes and the different temporal regimes. Concerning nonlinear optics, it will deal with laser frequency synthesis and mixing like second harmonic generation, optical parametric amplification and optical parametric oscillation. Notions of crystal optics will be given in this framework.
 
Optical spectroscopy – 20h
This lecture concerns itself with the interaction between light and matter. In this part, we present a theoretical framework to discuss the absorption, emission, and luminescence properties of, principally, gas phase molecular systems. Experimental techniques will be discussed, including modern and state-of-the-art techniques used in the environmental (e.g., infrared trace gas detection) and life sciences (such as Raman non-linear spectroscopies).

Guided optics – 10h
The objective of this part of the course is to give an insight into guided wave optics. Starting from Maxwell's equations, guided waves in planar (1d) structures will be presented. The notions of effective index and modal distribution will be explained and practical tools to compute them will be given. An overview of guided modes in bidimensionnal structures will also be given. The effective index method will be used to obtain a first approximation of the modes supported by these structures.

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Semiconductors are fundamental materials for modern technologies. During the last century, the invention of the semiconductor devices enabled the first quantum revolution with the development of the microelectronics industry. Nowadays, researchers are pushing the semiconductor nanostructures to the quantum limit with the objective to produce a second revolution based on quantum information processing. This lecture describes the main electronic properties of the semiconductor materials and explains the working principle of basic electronic devices such as diodes and transistors. The objective is to give the students the ability to analyze various semiconductor configurations involving doping, gating, illumination, voltage bias, and to calculate physical quantities such as carrier concentrations, electrostatic potentials, and electrical currents.

Content

• electronic structure : crystal, energy bands, holes, effective mass, density of states.
• free carrier population : thermal equilibrium, chemical doping, degenerate limit.
• weak non-equilibrium transport : diffusion, conduction, Hall effect.
• light-induced effects : generation, recombination, light emission.
• electrostatics : self-consistent equations, screening, depletion.
• pn junctions : space charge region, carrier injection, diffusion currents, photodiode.
• metal-semiconductor contacts : work function, Schottky barrier, ohmic contact.
• metal-oxide-semiconductor devices : capacitors, field-effect transistors.

Labwork

Microfabrication and electrical characterization of a semiconductor device in the cleanroom facility of the CIME-Nanotech.

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Goal:  Magnetism is widely present in our daily environment, especially through the use of magnetic materials (motors and actuators, magnetic recording, MRI etc.). It is also a very active field of fundamental research, particularly in Grenoble. Meso- and macroscopic aspects are presented in details and the complex magnetic structures that are the subject of current research are discussed.

Content: This course is based on the following plan.
I)    Magnetism at atomic level, magnetic behaviours, magnetic ordering
II)    Magnetostatics (electromagnetism, definitions, demagnetizing field, linear magnetism, units)
III)    Experimental techniques
IV)    Phenomenology, mesoscopic magnetism (anisotropy, magnetization reversal, domain walls)
V)    Spin-dependent transport-Spintronics (Electronic transport in ferromagnets, Giant Magnetoresistance (GMR), Spin dependent tunneling, Magnetic tunnel junctions)

Tutorials:  Magnetostatics; magnetic orders, magnetic moments ; magnetic anisotropy ; magnetization reversal ; domain walls ; spin dependent transport

Labwork:  Students will follow 2 labworks among 4:
Vibrating sample magnetometer (inductive measurement of hysteresis loop for a ferromagnetic sample, anisotropy)
Susceptibility (measurement of temperature evolution of susceptibility, Curie-Weiss law), 
SQUID (use of a SQUID magnetometer to measure magnetic fields)
Magnetotransport (extraordinary Hall effect and giant magnetoresistance measurements)

Prerequisites: Knowledge in electromagnetism and solid state physics

Bibliography:
Magnetism vol 1, dir E. de Lacheisserie, PUG (1999)
EDP Sciences Introduction to Solid State Physics,
C. Kittel Solid State Physics
N. Aschroft and N. Aschroft. Mermin Magnetism and Magnetic Materials, J.M.D. Coey

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The Research Intensive Training is a trademark of the Master N². It is specifically dedicated to intensify the formation through research, allowing students to the be continuously immersed in their laboratories in parallel to their courses, during the 2 years of the program.

For this purpose, students can choose up to 3 optional RIT modules of 3 credits each, one in each semester of the program, except for the last semester which is already fully devoted to the master thesis.

A RIT module consists in a part-time internship in a lab of the Grenoble area, representing 1 day each week during a semester. RIT modules are thought to be performed in the same research teams on the same research project, allowing students to achieve a substantial research contribution with possibly a publication during their master.  However students can also change lab, project or research team, with the agreement of their program coordinator, in order to get a broader scientific experience. Students can then discover ongoing research in nanosciences not only in their specialization but also in sister disciplines. It also offers them an opportunity to initiate connections in view of finding their master thesis subject.

RIT modules are evaluated through a short report followed by an oral examination, in which students expose their research objectives, implementation, and results, and answer to the questions of the jury. RIT performed in the second semester of the first year can be evaluated together with the compulsory M1 research internship.

Admission to Research Intensive Training modules requires the agreement of the school-year coordinator.  In M1, the training is fully appropriate to students having completed a 4-years bachelor of science, or engineering, however 3-year's bachelors who have excellent academic results can also be admitted to the RIT.

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Goal: Introduce the basic statistical physics concepts to address the equilibrium and evolution properties of nano-scale systems.

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Goal:  Mechanics plays a forefront role at the nanoscale,  from the generation of nano-structures by growth instabilities to the properties of nano-composite materials, the design of micro and nano-mechanical devices, the nano-imaging techniques, the control of biologic functions.  This course introduces the mechanics of continuous media and its main applications to nanosciences and nano-technologies.  

Content:
- Simple deformations, definition of elastic modulii E, G, K, nu
- Flexion of beams, static, dynamics and waves. Example: the AFM cantilever.
- 3D linear elasticity of isotropic media: strain tensor ;  elasticity as a field theory (expression of the free energy) ; stress tensor ; general equilibrium equation
- elastic instabilities in thin films
- elasticity of membranes, ADN coil.

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Goal: As the size of systems decreases, surface effects become more important. The nano- scale is also the scale at which surface effects dominate over bulk effects. This course introduces the main notions to adress the specific properties and the organization of matter at surfaces from a physical, chemical and biological point of view.

Content:
- notions on molecular and surface interactions. The hydrophobic effect
- thermodynamics of surfaces ; surface tension
- capillarity, wetting, contact angle
- surfactants,  micelles, self-assemblies and lyotropic phases
- Gibbs monolayers, Langmuir-Blodgett films
- introduction to biologic membranes

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This course gives a general overview of some of the most common techniques used in image and signal processing, with a special focus in Fluid Mechanics. It starts with a review of the basic concepts of both signals and image processing (systems, block diagrams, Fourier series, 1 and 2D Fourier Transforms, basic image manipulation, filters…). In a second stage, the course focalises in more complex statistical techniques like, for the case of signals, spectral analysis, correlation and structure functions. For the case of images, it covers the reconstruction of particle trajectories and the basics of PIV (Particle Image Velocimetry) analysis.  

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Objectives : Aquire some knowledges about electrochemisty methods as Cyclic Voltammetry (CV) , Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) to characterize electrochemical reactions in solution and immobilized on the surfaces of electrodes.
Examples taken from litterature illustrate the lectures for a better understanding to characterize, investigate electrochemical systems, to elucidate different electrochemical reactions.

Content :

• Lectures + tutorials :13.5 H

- Reminders (1H 30)

- Cyclic Voltammetry (6 H): -Experimental and theoretical basis of voltammetry
Characterization in solution of reversible redox systems, irreversible redox systems,
quasi-reversible redox systems, consecutive redox systems, coupled homogeneous
chemical reactions EC reaction, CE reaction, EC reaction (catalytic) , ECE reactions,′
Characterization of immobilized systems on electrode

- Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (6 H): -Measurement: principle, experimental conditions
Impedance of circuit elements in an electrochemical system, Impedance of electrochemical systems,
Modeling utilizing electric and dielectric parameters

• Lab works : 3 experimental work sessions (3 X 4 H) illustrate topics of lectures

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Ce cours se concentrera sur la formation aux étudiants à l’élaboration de curriculum vitae et lettre de motivation, à la préparation aux entretiens d’embauche dans le monde industriel. Une large partie de cet enseignement sera aussi consacrée à la gestion de projets et à la notion d’innovation.

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• To address multidisciplinary approaches in nanosciences through a set of practical work.
• To train on high-tech platforms in nanosciences and in nanotechnology.
• To understand chemical methods of nanomaterials synthesis by a bottom-up approach.
• To learn the physical principles and practice of nanomaterials characterization techniques

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Goal: This solid-state physics class is the follow up of Solid-State Physics I. It goes one step further in the description of solid properties, including light-matter interactions (polarons, polaritons), effects of magnetic field (Landau levels, Fermi surfaces) and new states of matter (introduction to superconductivity and magnetic order).

Content: 

• Review of electronic band structures.
• Effects of interactions: plasmons, polarons and polaritons.
• Effects of magnetic field: Landau levels, probe of Fermi surfaces, quantum Hall effect.
• New states of matter : superconductivity, magnetic phases, spin Hamiltonians, magnons.

Bibliography:
Introduction to solid state physics, 8th edition, Charles Kittel
Solid state physics, Neil Ashcroft and David Mermin

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Goal: Because numerical tools in nowadays science research has become unavoidable, this course aims in familiarizing with methodologies, Python language and algorithms, ranging from classical to quantum physics, when the use of the numerics is inevitable to get answers to a problem.

Content: Based on independent projects starting on day one and possibly related to the different topics encountered during their master, the students will have to do an A to Z study, developing their own model, implementing it in Python with an appropriate approach, benchmarking it by understanding pros and cons and eventually doing the physical analysis.

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Goal: Introduction to local probes techniques in the field of nanosciences and nanotechnologies.

Content

1. Introduction to Scanning Probes Microscopy (1h30)

• Comparison between surface analysis techniques: SEM/TEM, SFA
• Presentation of the SPM sub-families: STM / SFM / SNOM via examples of applications

2. The Scanning Tunneling Microscope (7h)

• The tunneling effect
  • STM relevant parameters
  • Expression of the tunneling current
• The STM instrument
  • Tip fabrication methods
  • Electronic and instrumental chain to measure and control tunnelling current in the pico/nano-ampere range ADC/DAC, I/V converter, lock-in amplifier
  • Source of noises and detection limit
  • Vibration isolation (tutorial on transfer function and damping)
  • Measurement at low temperature : how to operate an STM in a cryostat>
• Operating STM modes and associated measurements
  • Local density of states (LDOS) and I/V spectroscopy
  • Constant current mode versus constant height mode

3. The Atomic Force Microscope (12h)

• Why mechanical oscillators
  • Introduction and history
  • Mechanical susceptibility
  • Limits of sensitivity (readout noise and Brownian motion)
  • Working at resonance, decrease the size/mass
• How to build an AFM
  • Micro fabrication of cantilever and tips
  • Nano positioning (piezo material and issues with them as hysteresis…)
  • Precision position measurements (optical and capacitive)
  • Signal analysis (Homodyne detection, PLL and PID)
• Operating AFMs
  • Calibration process (cantilever stiffness, position detection)
  • What physical values are accessible (van der Waals, electrical, magnetic, friction forces)
  • Different modes of operation
• Maps analysis and image processing
  • Surface analysis parameters: rms, ra, skewness, kurtosis, etc
  • Artefacts, tip dilation effect
  • Tilt correction via polynomial subtraction and color scale
  • Tutorial on processing of the images and spectroscopy curves obtained in PW via Gwyddion software

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The internship is a key step of the M1 since in many cases it is the first long stay in a Research lab to develop an original scientific topics. The internship lasts a minimum of 8 weeks between April to June, on a subject related to nanosciences or nanotechnologies.
The internship can be a performed in a research institute of the Grenoble area or abroad, or in a company.
Students conduct a research project under the guidance of their supervisor. The internship can be extended during the summer up a to length of 4 months.

At the end of June students have to produce a report of about 20 pages including the bibliography. The report introduces their subject, the state of the art, and their objectives. It describes the methods they have used, their realizations, and discusses the results obtained during the internship. The reports concludes by giving perspectives of the performed work.
The students have then an oral defense based on a presentation of 15mn followed by 10mn of questions.

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The goal of this course is to offer a pool of advanced quantum labworks covering a broad field of topics: quantum materials, quantum engineering, quantum information and quantum technologies.

Students will attend from 5 to 7 labworks (depending on the number of students) among the ones listed below:

• Labwork 1: 2D Materials 1, atomic force microscopy and Raman spectroscopy on graphene, F. Marchi and N. Bendiab
• Labwork 2: 2D Materials 2, scanning tunneling microscopy on graphene bilayers, V. Renard
• Labwork 3: Hall effect, magnetoresistance of semiconductors, A. Kuhn
• Labwork 4: Superconductivity, evidence of the Meissner effect, A. Kuhn
• Labwork 5: Quantum optics 1, generation of entangled photon pairs using non-linear optics, P. Segonds
• Labwork 6: Quantum optics 2, entanglement and Bell inequalities, D. Ferrand
• Labwork 7: Quantum oscillations in topological materials, A. Pourret
• Labwork 8: Photon bunching in cathodoluminescence, G. Jacopin

The detailed planning will be established after the start of the academic year.

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The Nanosciences course offers high level experimental training and labwork performed in the nano-facilities and technology centers of UGA: CIME-Nanotech, CUBE, Chemistry platform.

Nanosciences Labwork

This course addresses the pluridisciplinar aspect of nanosciences and in nanotechnologies. The goal is to train students at the interface between the different sciences: chemistry and physics (Part I), physics and biology (Part II), and show the importance of a collaborative approach to the production and the characterization of nanoscale objects. Courses are in support for understand the great principles of the bottom-up approach in nanochemistry, the physical principle of different methods of characterization in nanosciences (AFM, SEM, TEM) and the elementary principles in biophysics. The pedagogical team is composed of teachers working in the field of nanochemistry, nanophysics and biophysics. The different practical work taking place on various practical teachings platforms located in Grenoble allowing the use of characterizations equipment at the forefront of nanoscience research.

Nano-biophysics

This course  is devoted to the Morphological and the Mechanical studies of biological cells fixed on a micro-functionalized pattern, by Atomic Force and Fluorescence Microscopies techniques. It consists of 14h of lectures addressing  biochemical and physical concepts at the nanoscale, and 12h of labwork taking place at the CUBE and CIME-Nanotech.

• To address multidisciplinary approaches in nanosciences through a set of practical work.
• To train on high-tech platforms in nanosciences and in nanotechnology.
• To understand chemical methods of nanomaterials synthesis by a bottom-up approach.
• To learn the biophysical principles of the interface between nanomaterials and animal cells.

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The Research Intensive Training is a trademark of the Master N². It is specifically dedicated to intensify the formation through research, allowing students to the be continuously immersed in their laboratories in parallel to their courses, during the 2 years of the program.

For this purpose, students can choose up to 3 optional RIT modules of 3 credits each, one in each semester of the program, except for the last semester which is already fully devoted to the master thesis.

A RIT module consists in a part-time internship in a lab of the Grenoble area, representing 1 day each week during a semester. RIT modules are thought to be performed in the same research teams on the same research project, allowing students to achieve a substantial research contribution with possibly a publication during their master.  However students can also change lab, project or research team, with the agreement of their program coordinator, in order to get a broader scientific experience. Students can then discover ongoing research in nanosciences not only in their specialization but also in sister disciplines. It also offers them an opportunity to initiate connections in view of finding their master thesis subject.

RIT modules are evaluated through a short report followed by an oral examination, in which students expose their research objectives, implementation, and results, and answer to the questions of the jury. RIT performed in the second semester of the first year can be evaluated together with the compulsory M1 research internship.

Admission to Research Intensive Training modules requires the agreement of the school-year coordinator.  In M1, the training is fully appropriate to students having completed a 4-years bachelor of science, or engineering, however 3-year's bachelors who have excellent academic results can also be admitted to the RIT.

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This course gives an introduction to the concepts of many-body quantum mechanics. It describes the quantum statistics of bosons and fermions, and the quantum properties of systems composed of many identical particles. The main theoretical ingredient for this purpose is the creation and annihilation operators of quantum particles, in what is sometimes called the "second quantization formalism".

Content

• Chapter 1: Quantum statistics and theoretical tools in quantum mechanics
  Density operator
  Bosons, Fermions, quantum statistics
  Quantum states of identical particles
• Chapter 2: Bosons and light-matter interactions
  Electromagnetic field quantization, field creation and annihilation operators
  Fock states, coherent states
  Jaynes-Cummings Hamiltonian and vacuum Rabi oscillations
  Bose-Einstein condensation and Gross-Pitaevski equation
• Chapter 3: Fermionic systems
  Introduction to fermionic creation and annihilation operators
  Fermi sea: electrons and holes
  Hartree-Fock approximation
  Hubbard model
  Cooper pairs, Bogoliubov transformation

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In the context of intensive research on post-CMOS electronics, a new families of nano-materials has opened new avenues in different fields, including optoelectronics and quantum information. These low-dimensional systems are a new playground to understand the interactions between elementary excitations, electron-phonon and phonon-phonon, which play a major role in the behavior of electron transport and heat at this nanoscale. For example, the reduction of dimensionality in the case of graphene has made the adiabatic approximation obsolete. Thus, the electron-phonon coupling is so strong that the optical phonons can be modulated by an external electric field but also as has been recently shown by an optical grid.

The important advances in the control of graphene electronic properties, open the way to new two-dimensional materials. Thus, monolayers of Dichalcogenides of Transition Metals such as MoS₂ (MoSe₂, WS₂, WSe₂, …etc.) have appeared very recently as promising nanostructures for applications in both the field of optics and electronics. We will discuss the growth of such materials including the fabrication of heterostructures based on graphene (semi-metal), boron nitride (insulator) and MoS₂ (semiconductor) and their physical properties. Indeed marrying different 2D systems can take advantage of the properties of each part and more since the resulting hybrid is more than the sum of its parts.

This lecture will give an overview of the physical properties of graphene on the one hand, new 2D semiconductors like MoS₂ on the other hand and will open on the heterostructures. We will discuss their growth, band structure, phonons, electron-phonon coupling, excitons in MoS₂, the spin / valley polarization but also the prototype components (transistor, photodiode, LED ...) based on this new class of materials.

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This course is an introductory course on molecular electronics and magnetism accessible for both chemists and physicists. Accordingly, it will be given by a physicist and a chemist to browse the two aspects of the subject. It will present in an illustrated and accessible fashion the principles of quantum  electron transport in molecular and nanoscale devices and offer an overview of this active field of Nanosciences. It will insist on the effect of inserting magnetically active molecules in such set-ups.

Contents :

• Physical/Chemical basis (distinct lecture for the two publics to bring them to a common language)
• Mesoscopic transport
• Magnetic anisotropy in Transion Metal and Lanthanide complexes
• One-electron transistor
• Transport through a quantum box
• Single Molecule Magnets (SMM)
• Grafting and probing SMM on surfaces
• Article analysis

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1. INTRODUCTION

2. BASIC PHOTOPHYSICAL PROCESSES

2.1. Creating excited states by light absorption
2.2. Properties of excited states
2.2.1. Geometry
2.2.2. Acid-base properties
2.2.3. Redox properties
2.2.4. Dipolar moment
2.3. Deactivation of the excited electronic states
2.3.1. Non-radiative transitions
2.3.2. Radiative transitions
2.3.3. Parameters
2.3.4. Experimental measurement

3. QUENCHING OF EXCITED STATES

3.1. Kinetics of Stern-Volmer

3.2. Energy transfer reaction (electronic)
3.2.1. Radiative energy transfer
3.2.2. Non-radiative energy transfer by resonance
3.2.3. Non-radiative energy transfer by exchange
3.3. Electron transfer reactions
2.3.1. Energy aspect
3.3.2. Kinetic aspect
3.3.3. Application of electron transfer to conversion and storage of solar energy
3.4. Excimers and exciplexes
3.5. Time-resolved spectroscopy method

4. PHOTONICS OF SOLIDS AND NANOPARTICLES
4.1. Introduction
4.2. Exciton formation
4.3. Applications of photonics of solids
5. PHOTOCHEMICAL AND PHOTOCHROMIC REACTIONS
5.1. Photochemical reactions
5.1.1. The biradical reactions
5.1.2. Pericyclic reactions
5.2. Photochromic reactions

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Goal: This course will give a general view on the topic of photon or wave interactions with matter at various energy scales and length scales.

Content
In the first part, we will focus on the problem of the propagation of an electromagnetic wave when the wavelength is large (UV, optical, etc.) compared to the interatomic distances. The problem of polarization of the medium in metals and in semiconductors (Drude, Lorentz, interband, etc.) will be discussed and surface plasmons which are longitudinal excitations at the SC-metal interface will be treated. Finally, we will discuss how we can localize light on length scales smaller than the wavelength (e.g. nanoparticles). This part will be completed by a section on the Kramers-Kronig relations that link reflectance to absorption. The second part of the course will focus on phenomena where the incident wavelength is much smaller, such that matter can be resolved to atomic scales. The problem of structure factors and their interpretation in terms of correlation functions (neutrons, X, etc.) will be discussed.

References

1. Zangwill, Modern Electrodynamics, Cambridge University Press.
2. D. Tanner, Optical Effects in Solids, Cambridge University Press.
3. P. Chaikin and T. Lubensky, Principles of Condensed Matter Physics, Cambridge University Press.

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This lecture aims to present the main classes of material and their physical properties via two complementary approaches. One is based on the bondings between atoms and how these bonds influence the elastic, thermal, and electrical conductivity properties of materials, whereas the second one is related to the Fermi surface analysis.  Microscopical models of physical phenomena like permittivity, piezoelectricity, or ferromagnetism will be described and how the material properties change at the surface.

Contents

Chapter 0 : Introduction - Functional materials
Chapter 1: The various types of bonds and the classes of materials
Chapter 2: Relationship between bonds and simple properties of materials
(thermal, mechanical, electrical properties)
Chapter 3:  Quantum models of materials (Sommerfeld and band theory)
Chapter 4:  Dielectric, ferroelectric, piezoelectric, and magnetic properties
           and their measurements.
Chapter 5:  Surface properties

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The study of thin-film materials is the basis of several research projects and sectors of activity. Indeed, the thin film state covers activities ranging from optics for the development of waveguides or anti-reflection layers, to microelectronics for the production of semiconductor layers or for the production of energy in fuel cell devices. This course will present an overview of the thin film states and its specificities trough 3 chapters:
• What could we call a thin film? What implies this specific state?
• Brief presentation of the physical techniques (PVD, PLD, evaporation…) and more specific description of the chemical routes (ALD, CVD and Sol-Gel chemistry)
• General tools of morphology characterization will be presented first. Special care will be given to the specific tools for structural determination (Grazing incidence XRD, texture measurments and Transmission Electron Microscopy).

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Goal:  Mechanics plays a forefront role at the nanoscale,  from the generation of nano-structures by growth instabilities to the properties of nano-composite materials, the design of micro and nano-mechanical devices, the nano-imaging techniques, the control of biologic functions.  This course introduces the mechanics of continuous media and its main applications to nanosciences and nano-technologies.  

Content:
- Simple deformations, definition of elastic modulii E, G, K, nu
- Flexion of beams, static, dynamics and waves. Example: the AFM cantilever.
- 3D linear elasticity of isotropic media: strain tensor ;  elasticity as a field theory (expression of the free energy) ; stress tensor ; general equilibrium equation
- elastic instabilities in thin films
- elasticity of membranes, ADN coil.

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Goal: Microfluidics studies the transport of liquids at the scale of some micrometer to the hundred of micrometer, such as the flow of red blood cells in a blood vessel, the transport of polymer chains in a porous medium, or the locomotion of micro-organisms. Nanofluidics studies the flow of liquids at the colloidal scale, that is at distance of the nanometer to the micrometer from a surface. This course introduces the concepts of low Reynolds number flows and surface-driven flows and describes the main properties of flows and transport at the sub-millimeter scale.

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Goal: Introduce the basic statistical physics concepts to address the equilibrium and evolution properties of nano-scale systems.

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Goal: As the size of systems decreases, surface effects become more important. The nano- scale is also the scale at which surface effects dominate over bulk effects. This course introduces the main notions to adress the specific properties and the organization of matter at surfaces from a physical, chemical and biological point of view.

Content:
- notions on molecular and surface interactions. The hydrophobic effect
- thermodynamics of surfaces ; surface tension
- capillarity, wetting, contact angle
- surfactants,  micelles, self-assemblies and lyotropic phases
- Gibbs monolayers, Langmuir-Blodgett films
- introduction to biologic membranes

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This course is open and mandatory only for students taking part to the Thematic Program (PT) Soft Nano (Graduate School).

Students undertake a research project in soft nanosciences, starting by an appropriation phase. The goal of the course is to learn how to plan, set-up, and write, a research proposal.

Content

Students spend 1+1/2 day per week in their research team. In addition the group meets on a weekly basis, and works on the following topics:

• reading and synthetizing the scientific literature
• understanding the novelty of the approach to be developed
• defining the research objectives
• defining the new tools /techniques/ know-how needed for the project, starting to acquire them
• elaborating a tentative schedule for implementation of the 2-year research work, with milestones

Students take turns in presenting their progress to the promotion.
In addition to this continous activity, they are evaluated at the end of the term through:
- the submission of a research proposal (about 15 pages, including a state-of-the-art, novelty and objectives of approach, new  instrumentation/ elaboration/ numerics/ methodology to be developed, expected outcomes, scheme and schedule of implementation)
- an oral public presentation and defense of their proposal,  in presence of all the promotion and of a unique pluridisciplinary jury for all students.

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Goal: This course is a deepening of the quantum mechanics concepts introduced in the undergraduate courses. The fundamental principle of quantum mechanics are illustrated by applications to nanoscale condensed-matter systems taken from recent research works and by discussing prospects for quantum information technologies. The concepts presented in this course are prerequisites for many second-year courses related to nanophysics and quantum engineering. A good knowledge in quantum mechanics is indeed more and more essential for technological research and development of nanoscale quantum devices.

Content

• Chapter 1: Introduction and recalls on the quantum mechanics postulates and formalism (Dirac notation, Hilbert space). Two-level system, Zeeman effect, spin Hamiltonian. Tensorial product notation for states and operators. Many-body quantum states (bosons and fermions).
  Exercices: Basics of quantum mechanics formalism.
• Chapter 2: Recalls on confinement problem. Electron bound states in a potential.
  Exercises: Example of 1D confinement problems, quantum harmonic oscillator.
• Chapter 3: Introduction to atomic physics. Spherical symmetry, angular and spin kinetic momenta. Mean field approximation, central potential, many electrons atoms, Hund rules, spin-orbit coupling, optical transitions.
  Exercises: Grotrian diagrams, spin-orbit coupling, fine and hyperfine structure.
• Chapter 4: Approximation methods for eigenstate calculations, perturbation theory, variational method.
  Exercises: Application to electronic systems.
• Chapter 5: Time evolution. General equation for the time evolution, two-level systems, perturbation theory, Fermi golden rules.
  Exercises: Application to Rabi oscillations.

Prerequisites: Basics of quantum mechanics.

Bibliography: Quantum mechanics, C. Cohen-Tannoudji, Vol. 1, ISBN-13: 978-0471164333, Vol. 2, ISBN-13: 978-0471569527.

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Goal: This solid-state physics class aims at providing the basics theories that allow to understand the properties of materials, and in particular their electronic and vibrational properties. Why are some solids metallic and other semiconducting ?  How can we describe their electrical and thermal properties ?  Applications to low-dimensional systems (including graphene and nanotubes) will serve as a bridge to nanosciences.

Content: Presentation of simple models and calculations of solids properties:

• Free electrons : classical Drude model.
• Quantum model: Sommerfeld model.
• Metals and insulators : nearly-free quantum model, tight-binding model, Bloch therorem.
• Vibrations in solids: acoustic and optical phonons, sound velocity.

Prerequisites: Electromagnetism, waves and vibrations, basic quantum mechanics.

Bibliography:
Introduction to solid state physics, 8th edition, Charles Kittel.
Solid state physics, Neil Ashcroft and David Mermin.

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Laser and nonlinear optics - 20h
The laser aspects will focus on the study of the gain medium and the resonator including the notions of oscillation threshold, Gaussian optics, stability, cavity modes and the different temporal regimes. Concerning nonlinear optics, it will deal with laser frequency synthesis and mixing like second harmonic generation, optical parametric amplification and optical parametric oscillation. Notions of crystal optics will be given in this framework.
 
Optical spectroscopy – 20h
This lecture concerns itself with the interaction between light and matter. In this part, we present a theoretical framework to discuss the absorption, emission, and luminescence properties of, principally, gas phase molecular systems. Experimental techniques will be discussed, including modern and state-of-the-art techniques used in the environmental (e.g., infrared trace gas detection) and life sciences (such as Raman non-linear spectroscopies).

Guided optics – 10h
The objective of this part of the course is to give an insight into guided wave optics. Starting from Maxwell's equations, guided waves in planar (1d) structures will be presented. The notions of effective index and modal distribution will be explained and practical tools to compute them will be given. An overview of guided modes in bidimensionnal structures will also be given. The effective index method will be used to obtain a first approximation of the modes supported by these structures.

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Introduction to biology (components and structure of the cells, genetic information, metabolism, regulation of gene expression), stochastic processes and diffusion in biological systems (with applications in population mobility patterns or in molecular motor processes), introduction to evolution (historical perspectives, the modern synthesis, genetic drifts), genetic circuits (transcription regulation, genetic logic gates, oscillatory or bistable circuits, synthetic biology), optimality in biological systems (evolution of genetic circuits, cost-benefit issues, game theory in evolving biological systems).

After each chapter, the newly introduced concepts will be illustrated through the analysis and discussion of scientific articles, either by the teacher or by the students. Each student will be required to present at least one article to the group during the overall lectures.

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SpectrumThis course is organized in two parts, each made of nine sessions of 1.5 hours. In each part, five sessions are devoted to lectures, and four sessions are exercice classes devoted to problem-set solving.

The first part encompasses optical spectroscopies and focuses on the interaction of the electrical field component of light with matter. It deals with infrared and UV-visible spectroscopies, based on vibrational and electronic motions in the molecules. Some elements of group theory are presented to explain the occurence of the transitions and the aspect of the spectra related to the molecular structures.

The second part of the course focuses on the interaction of the magnetic field component of light with matter. This part aims at illustrating the principle of magnetic resonance spectroscopies, both nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR), and their use for structure determination, for chemical kinetics and thermodynamics, as well as for molecular dynamics characterization in solution and in the solid state of organic and inorganic molecules and nanomaterials.

Assessments takes place as two written exams of 1 hour each for each part of the course.

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This course gives an overview of the polymer field from the synthesis of polymers to characterization, properties, and applications of synthetic and natural polymers. All major polymerization methods, their reaction mechanisms and kinetic aspects are considered: step growth polymerization, chain growth polymerization with ionic and radical variations, insertion polymerization. A lecture portion is integrated with a laboratory component, in which experiments are conducted that are directly connected to the class work. Analysis of  polymer solution properties and caracterization techniques are presented :  thermodynamics, polymer/solvent interactions, average molecular weight determination via osmometry, ligth scattering, viscosimetry and SEC.

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Objectives : Aquire some knowledges about electrochemisty methods as Cyclic Voltammetry (CV) , Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) to characterize electrochemical reactions in solution and immobilized on the surfaces of electrodes.
Examples taken from litterature illustrate the lectures for a better understanding to characterize, investigate electrochemical systems, to elucidate different electrochemical reactions.

Content :

• Lectures + tutorials :13.5 H

- Reminders (1H 30)

- Cyclic Voltammetry (6 H): -Experimental and theoretical basis of voltammetry
Characterization in solution of reversible redox systems, irreversible redox systems,
quasi-reversible redox systems, consecutive redox systems, coupled homogeneous
chemical reactions EC reaction, CE reaction, EC reaction (catalytic) , ECE reactions,′
Characterization of immobilized systems on electrode

- Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (6 H): -Measurement: principle, experimental conditions
Impedance of circuit elements in an electrochemical system, Impedance of electrochemical systems,
Modeling utilizing electric and dielectric parameters

• Lab works : 3 experimental work sessions (3 X 4 H) illustrate topics of lectures

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An overview of discrete element simulations, force transmission in granular packings,  another vision of soil mechanics, microscopic origins of some constitutive laws, role of the geometry,  numerical homogenization,  "Tools" for characterizing the microstructure, complex systems and strong coupling. 

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This course gives a general overview of some of the most common techniques used in image and signal processing, with a special focus in Fluid Mechanics. It starts with a review of the basic concepts of both signals and image processing (systems, block diagrams, Fourier series, 1 and 2D Fourier Transforms, basic image manipulation, filters…). In a second stage, the course focalises in more complex statistical techniques like, for the case of signals, spectral analysis, correlation and structure functions. For the case of images, it covers the reconstruction of particle trajectories and the basics of PIV (Particle Image Velocimetry) analysis.  

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The Research Intensive Training is a trademark of the Master N². It is specifically dedicated to intensify the formation through research, allowing students to the be continuously immersed in their laboratories in parallel to their courses, during the 2 years of the program.

For this purpose, students can choose up to 3 optional RIT modules of 3 credits each, one in each semester of the program, except for the last semester which is already fully devoted to the master thesis.

A RIT module consists in a part-time internship in a lab of the Grenoble area, representing 1 day each week during a semester. RIT modules are thought to be performed in the same research teams on the same research project, allowing students to achieve a substantial research contribution with possibly a publication during their master.  However students can also change lab, project or research team, with the agreement of their program coordinator, in order to get a broader scientific experience. Students can then discover ongoing research in nanosciences not only in their specialization but also in sister disciplines. It also offers them an opportunity to initiate connections in view of finding their master thesis subject.

RIT modules are evaluated through a short report followed by an oral examination, in which students expose their research objectives, implementation, and results, and answer to the questions of the jury. RIT performed in the second semester of the first year can be evaluated together with the compulsory M1 research internship.

Admission to Research Intensive Training modules requires the agreement of the school-year coordinator.  In M1, the training is fully appropriate to students having completed a 4-years bachelor of science, or engineering, however 3-year's bachelors who have excellent academic results can also be admitted to the RIT.

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Ce cours se concentrera sur la formation aux étudiants à l’élaboration de curriculum vitae et lettre de motivation, à la préparation aux entretiens d’embauche dans le monde industriel. Une large partie de cet enseignement sera aussi consacrée à la gestion de projets et à la notion d’innovation.

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The internship is a key step of the M1 since in many cases it is the first long stay in a Research lab to develop an original scientific topics. The internship lasts a minimum of 8 weeks between April to June, on a subject related to nanosciences or nanotechnologies.
The internship can be a performed in a research institute of the Grenoble area or abroad, or in a company.
Students conduct a research project under the guidance of their supervisor. The internship can be extended during the summer up a to length of 4 months.

At the end of June students have to produce a report of about 20 pages including the bibliography. The report introduces their subject, the state of the art, and their objectives. It describes the methods they have used, their realizations, and discusses the results obtained during the internship. The reports concludes by giving perspectives of the performed work.
The students have then an oral defense based on a presentation of 15mn followed by 10mn of questions.

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• To address multidisciplinary approaches in nanosciences through a set of practical work.
• To train on high-tech platforms in nanosciences and in nanotechnology.
• To understand chemical methods of nanomaterials synthesis by a bottom-up approach.
• To learn the physical principles and practice of nanomaterials characterization techniques

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The Nanosciences course offers high level experimental training and labwork performed in the nano-facilities and technology centers of UGA: CIME-Nanotech, CUBE, Chemistry platform.

Nanosciences Labwork

This course addresses the pluridisciplinar aspect of nanosciences and in nanotechnologies. The goal is to train students at the interface between the different sciences: chemistry and physics (Part I), physics and biology (Part II), and show the importance of a collaborative approach to the production and the characterization of nanoscale objects. Courses are in support for understand the great principles of the bottom-up approach in nanochemistry, the physical principle of different methods of characterization in nanosciences (AFM, SEM, TEM) and the elementary principles in biophysics. The pedagogical team is composed of teachers working in the field of nanochemistry, nanophysics and biophysics. The different practical work taking place on various practical teachings platforms located in Grenoble allowing the use of characterizations equipment at the forefront of nanoscience research.

Nano-biophysics

This course  is devoted to the Morphological and the Mechanical studies of biological cells fixed on a micro-functionalized pattern, by Atomic Force and Fluorescence Microscopies techniques. It consists of 14h of lectures addressing  biochemical and physical concepts at the nanoscale, and 12h of labwork taking place at the CUBE and CIME-Nanotech.

• To address multidisciplinary approaches in nanosciences through a set of practical work.
• To train on high-tech platforms in nanosciences and in nanotechnology.
• To understand chemical methods of nanomaterials synthesis by a bottom-up approach.
• To learn the biophysical principles of the interface between nanomaterials and animal cells.

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Goal: This course will give a general view on the topic of photon or wave interactions with matter at various energy scales and length scales.

Content
In the first part, we will focus on the problem of the propagation of an electromagnetic wave when the wavelength is large (UV, optical, etc.) compared to the interatomic distances. The problem of polarization of the medium in metals and in semiconductors (Drude, Lorentz, interband, etc.) will be discussed and surface plasmons which are longitudinal excitations at the SC-metal interface will be treated. Finally, we will discuss how we can localize light on length scales smaller than the wavelength (e.g. nanoparticles). This part will be completed by a section on the Kramers-Kronig relations that link reflectance to absorption. The second part of the course will focus on phenomena where the incident wavelength is much smaller, such that matter can be resolved to atomic scales. The problem of structure factors and their interpretation in terms of correlation functions (neutrons, X, etc.) will be discussed.

References

1. Zangwill, Modern Electrodynamics, Cambridge University Press.
2. D. Tanner, Optical Effects in Solids, Cambridge University Press.
3. P. Chaikin and T. Lubensky, Principles of Condensed Matter Physics, Cambridge University Press.

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Goal: This course proposes an introduction to soft matter physics. The physics of soft matter is governed by weak interactions which are at the source of the generic characteristics of soft matter systems: nanoscale self-organisation at room temperature, importance of entropy and fluctuations, high susceptibility and response to stimulii, specific structures at surfaces and interfaces, slow dynamics. The course is organized in two parts. The first part describes the interactions at work in soft matter systems and their measurements. The second part develops on the particular system of polymer melts and solutions, the generic characteristics of soft matter systems and the physical tools needed to modelize them.

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Goal: To introduce the basic thermodynamics concepts to address the equilibrium and evolution properties of nano-scale systems.

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Goal: Introduction to local probes techniques in the field of nanosciences and nanotechnologies.

Content

1. Introduction to Scanning Probes Microscopy (1h30)

• Comparison between surface analysis techniques: SEM/TEM, SFA
• Presentation of the SPM sub-families: STM / SFM / SNOM via examples of applications

2. The Scanning Tunneling Microscope (7h)

• The tunneling effect
  • STM relevant parameters
  • Expression of the tunneling current
• The STM instrument
  • Tip fabrication methods
  • Electronic and instrumental chain to measure and control tunnelling current in the pico/nano-ampere range ADC/DAC, I/V converter, lock-in amplifier
  • Source of noises and detection limit
  • Vibration isolation (tutorial on transfer function and damping)
  • Measurement at low temperature : how to operate an STM in a cryostat>
• Operating STM modes and associated measurements
  • Local density of states (LDOS) and I/V spectroscopy
  • Constant current mode versus constant height mode

3. The Atomic Force Microscope (12h)

• Why mechanical oscillators
  • Introduction and history
  • Mechanical susceptibility
  • Limits of sensitivity (readout noise and Brownian motion)
  • Working at resonance, decrease the size/mass
• How to build an AFM
  • Micro fabrication of cantilever and tips
  • Nano positioning (piezo material and issues with them as hysteresis…)
  • Precision position measurements (optical and capacitive)
  • Signal analysis (Homodyne detection, PLL and PID)
• Operating AFMs
  • Calibration process (cantilever stiffness, position detection)
  • What physical values are accessible (van der Waals, electrical, magnetic, friction forces)
  • Different modes of operation
• Maps analysis and image processing
  • Surface analysis parameters: rms, ra, skewness, kurtosis, etc
  • Artefacts, tip dilation effect
  • Tilt correction via polynomial subtraction and color scale
  • Tutorial on processing of the images and spectroscopy curves obtained in PW via Gwyddion software

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Mandatory course for the students of the Soft Nano Thematic program (PT) of the Graduate School.

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The Research Intensive Training is a trademark of the Master N². It is specifically dedicated to intensify the formation through research, allowing students to the be continuously immersed in their laboratories in parallel to their courses, during the 2 years of the program.

For this purpose, students can choose up to 3 optional RIT modules of 3 credits each, one in each semester of the program, except for the last semester which is already fully devoted to the master thesis.

A RIT module consists in a part-time internship in a lab of the Grenoble area, representing 1 day each week during a semester. RIT modules are thought to be performed in the same research teams on the same research project, allowing students to achieve a substantial research contribution with possibly a publication during their master.  However students can also change lab, project or research team, with the agreement of their program coordinator, in order to get a broader scientific experience. Students can then discover ongoing research in nanosciences not only in their specialization but also in sister disciplines. It also offers them an opportunity to initiate connections in view of finding their master thesis subject.

RIT modules are evaluated through a short report followed by an oral examination, in which students expose their research objectives, implementation, and results, and answer to the questions of the jury. RIT performed in the second semester of the first year can be evaluated together with the compulsory M1 research internship.

Admission to Research Intensive Training modules requires the agreement of the school-year coordinator.  In M1, the training is fully appropriate to students having completed a 4-years bachelor of science, or engineering, however 3-year's bachelors who have excellent academic results can also be admitted to the RIT.

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Goal: Because numerical tools in nowadays science research has become unavoidable, this course aims in familiarizing with methodologies, Python language and algorithms, ranging from classical to quantum physics, when the use of the numerics is inevitable to get answers to a problem.

Content: Based on independent projects starting on day one and possibly related to the different topics encountered during their master, the students will have to do an A to Z study, developing their own model, implementing it in Python with an appropriate approach, benchmarking it by understanding pros and cons and eventually doing the physical analysis.

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This course gives an overview of the polymer field from the synthesis of polymers to characterization, properties, and applications of synthetic and natural polymers. All major polymerization methods, their reaction mechanisms and kinetic aspects are considered: step growth polymerization, chain growth polymerization with ionic and radical variations, insertion polymerization. A lecture portion is integrated with a laboratory component, in which experiments are conducted that are directly connected to the class work. Analysis of  polymer solution properties and caracterization techniques are presented :  thermodynamics, polymer/solvent interactions, average molecular weight determination via osmometry, ligth scattering, viscosimetry and SEC.

This course is divided in two parts covering selected aspects of polymer chemistry and physical chemistry. The chemistry part aims to help students better understand contemporary polymer science focusing on syntheses and materials properties of polymers. It covers copolymer synthesis, discussing control of copolymer composition and relevant recent research such as controlled radical polymerization, supramolecular polymers and bio-based polymers. The course will also provide detailed information for polymerization techniques and polymer characterization tools.

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The applications of surface functionalization are multiple and cover large fields at the interface between chemistry and biology. The aim of this course is to focus on two challenging applications: surface functionalization for biosensors and for (electro)catalysis. The course is structured into two modules differentiated by the nature of the functionalized material which (mineral/inorganic or biological).

Contents:

I. Short introduction on biomolecules (DNA, proteins, enzymes, sugars…)

II. Functionalization of mineral and inorganic based-materials and related characterization techniques (fluorescence microscopy, AFM, SEM, ellipsometry…)

  DNA, sugars and proteins

• Physisorption, chemisorption
• Self-assembly on conducting and semi-conducting surfaces (silanization, thiol self assembly)
• Electrofunctionnalization: conducting polymers, diazonium salts
• Auto-organization of biomolecules : origami, DNA wires, protein auto-assembly, protein organized around organizing structure (Metals…)
•  Applications: biosensors, stimulating electrodes and anti-fouling surfaces

Catalysts

• Functionnalization
• Applications: (photo)electrocatalytic water splitting (reduction of protons, water oxidation), CO2 reduction

Enzymes

• Functionnalization
• Applications: hydrogenases, CO2 reductase …

III. Functionnalization of bio-based nanomaterials
DNA

•  Functionnalization with catalysts
•  Applications

Proteins

•  Functionnalization (bioconjugation) with catalysts (artificial enzymes) and nanoparticles
•  Applications

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This course will be focused on the main nanofabrication and characterization techniques used in clean-rooms in research laboratory and semi-industrial environments for the fabrication of current and future semiconductor devices. It will combine regular lectures and a practical training on nanobiotechnology in clean room facilities.

Outline
This course will include a first part covering the main nanofabrication and characterization techniques used in clean-rooms and
a second part dedicated to a practical training.

• The first part will be taught as regular lectures. The principles of these techniques will be presented and illustrated through concrete examples obtained in the clean-rooms of the Minatech Campus in Grenoble. This course will provide you with the basics of technological steps, thin film deposition techniques, lithography processes, and advanced characterization used during the fabrication of single devices up to their large-scale integration.
• The practical training (second part) will consist in the construction of a micro-patterned device using state-of-the art microfabrication techniques. Fluorescently marked cells will be deposited on the constructed micropatterns and different cell.

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Module pratique permettant aux étudiants d’élaborer des matériaux et de les caractériser ensuite via différentes techniques. L’ensemble de ces travaux pratiques se déroule dans les instituts (CEA, institut Néel) afin de permettre aux étudiants d’utiliser des méthodes d’élaboration moderne issue de la recherche en nanosciences et l’utilisation d’appareils de caractérisation à la pointe de la recherche moderne actuelle.

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Ce cours se concentrera sur la description des matériaux à l’échelle micrométrique et nanométrique

Ce cours est divisé en trois parties :

La première concerne la description de la physique particulière présente à l’échelle nanométrique en raison du grand rapport surface/volume et des phénomènes de confinement quantique présent à cette échelle dans les matériaux. La deuxième concerne la mécanique des nanostructures, propriété essentielle à comprendre dans le cadre par exemple du développement de la microélectronique et enfin un descriptif complet des propriétés et applications des matériaux métalliques allant de la métallurgie à l’échelle nanométrique.

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Ce cours se concentrera sur la préparation et les propriétés physiques des différentes étapes de préparation des éléments structurées permettant le développement de la micro-électronique.

Ce cours présentera les différents aspects de la chimie dans la micro-électronique, les différentes étapes de préparation permettant la production de MEMS (microsystème électromécanique) ainsi que les techniques optiques de caractérisation des différentes étapes d’élaboration des matériaux utilisés dans la micro-électronique.

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Ce cours se concentrera sur les méthodes d’élaboration et les propriétés des différents matériaux nanostructurés permettant le développement des nanotechnologies (couches minces structurées, nanoparticules…) et de la micro-électronique (lithographie) mais aussi l’élaboration de batteries actuellement développées par l’industrie ou en développement (recherche académique et/ou en développement industriel).

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Ce cours se concentrera sur les méthodes spectroscopiques de caractérisations des nanomatériaux : Diffraction des rayons X, spectroscopie IR ET Raman, spectrométrie SIMS, méthode XPS.

Chaque méthode de caractérisation est développée de manière théorique durant quelques heures de CM avant que chaque utilisation concrète des techniques soit illustrée via des travaux pratiques effectués au sein des instituts de recherche des sites Grenoblois (CEA, Institut Néel) permettant aux étudiants de comprendre l’utilité de chaque technique pour la caractérisation d’échantillons réels issue de la recherche.

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Ce cours se concentrera sur les différentes méthodes de microscopie permettant la caractérisation des nano- ou micro-structures : microscopie électronique à Balayage (MEB), microscopie électronique en transmission (MET), microscopie à force atomique (AFM), microscopie à effet tunnel (STM), ou la spectroscopie/microscopie neutronique.

Chaque méthode de microscopie est développée de manière théorique durant quelques heures de CM avant que chaque utilisation concrète des techniques soit illustrée via des travaux pratiques effectués au sein des instituts de recherche des sites Grenoblois (CEA, Institut Néel) ou les plateformes technologiques (nanomonde…) permettant aux étudiants de comprendre l’utilité de chaque technique pour la caractérisation d’échantillons réels issue de la recherche.

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Ce cours se concentrera sur l’utilisation de la programmation informatique pour des applications scientifiques : utilisation de Labview, Matlab, Python et le développement de plan d’expériences permettant l’élaboration d’une méthodologie pensée et élaborée indispensable à la recherche scientifique.

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