Nanophysics 2nd year

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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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 lecture aims at introducing the light-matter interaction in semiconductor microstructures and metallic nanostructures. These objects allow tailoring and localizing the field distribution and polarization even at a subwavelength scale and can be used to boost the light-matter interaction with quantum emitters (including absorption, spontaneous and stimulated emission). Amazing effects such as enhancement or inhibition of spontaneous emission, nonlinear effects down to the single photon level have been demonstrated. This paves the way to new generation of optoelectronic devices like single photon sources, quantum optical gates, nanoscale optical modulators, ultrasensitive sensors, etc.

The lecture is divided into two main parts:

- Nanophotonics : Basics of quantum light-matter interaction, Dielectric optical microcavities, CQED with artificial atoms, CQED-based optoelectronic devices, Micro-cavity polaritons

- Plasmonics : Electrodynamics of metals, Surface plasmon polaritons, Nanostructure for coupling and guiding SPPs, Localized surface plasmons, Optical process exaltation by plasmons

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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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This UE Thematic and interdisciplinary projects is divided in 2 parts :

Part 1 : Quantum practicals on IBM-Q
Teachers : Julien Renard (CNRS) Matias Urdampilleta (CNRS)

Projects will be focused on the implementation of elementary quantum algorithms on superconducting quantum processors and simulators (IBM-Q). It relies on a “learning by doing” strategy. Developed skills: Python & quantum circuits.

Part 2 : Quantum seminars

A series of seminars (regular and extended ones) will complete the regular course offer during the fall semester.
For the academic year 2024-2025, the program (18 hours in total) is the following:

• 3 extended seminars (3 x 1.5 hours each)
  - Mechanical systems in the quantum limit, Jérémie Viennot (CNRS)
  - Spin Qubits with NV centers, Benjamin Pigeau (CNRS)
  - Modeling and Simulation for Spin Quantum Dots and Qubits, Yann-Michel Niquet (CEA)

• 3 regular seminars (1.5 hour each)

            - What is a PhD ? Olivier Isnard, Director of the Physics Doctoral School
            - Quantum Start-ups presentations.
            - Short presentations of PhDs students about their work.

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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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Teachers : Hélène Béa (UGA) Vincent Baltz (CEA)

Objectives :

This lecture is an introduction to the field of nanomagnetism, also providing basic ideas in spin electronics. The continuous progress in patterning, instrumentation and simulation over the past decades has made possible the investigation of low-dimensional magnetic elements such as thin films and nanostructures. New properties arise in these due to the reduction of dimensionality and the ability to built artificial stackings. Beyond the development of fundamental knowledge, these bring new functionalities of interest for technology. Such is the case for Giant Magneto-Resistance, an effect combining together electronics and magnetism, as the resistance of a stacked device may strongly depend on the arrangement of magnetization in the sub-stacks. It was discovered in the mid 80's and led to the Nobel prize in Physics in 2007, and enters many applications such as magnetic sensors and encoders, data storage and processing, bio- and heath devices. Grenoble has played an active role in the development and magnetism from fundamentals to permanent magnets and currently spin electronics. Several large laboratories and research teams are devoted to these, with links to companies in Information/Communication technology or Health / Biology.

The lecture remains mostly at the phenomenological and materials level, and does not cover fundamental aspects of magnetism related to quantum mechanics and magnetism in compounds. The first chapter provides general notions about magnetism such as fields and moments, units and magnetostatics. The second chapter focuses on ground-state effects arising when the dimensions of a magnetic system are reduced, either as a thin film or nanostructure. These properties differ from those known at the macro scale, and thus must be taken into consideration when designing systems with nanometer dimensions. The third chapter pertains to magnetization processes, which means how a system reacts against a magnetic field. This aspect is crucial, as it determines how one is able to address a material or device. The fourth chapter considers high-speed magnetization processes, which happen to involve precessional processes. This aspect is crucial for current developments in spintronics for data storage and processing, where GHz operation may be required. Finally the fifth chapter will shortly present the basic phenomena arising coupling electronic transport and magnetism, both in terms of magnetoresistance (the arrangement of magnetization affects the resistance of a device) and magnetization actuation through spin-polarized transport (for example, programming a magnetic cell through a current flowing directly through the cell).

Program : 

 Chapter 1 : Reminders on magnetism

1. Magnetic induction, Maxwell equations and their consequences
2. Magnetic induction vs magnetic field
3. Magnetic materials
4. Units in magnetism
5. Magnetic energies
6.  Bloch domain wall
7. Magnetometry and magnetic imaging

Chapter 2 : Magnetism and magnetic domains in low dimensions

1. Magnetic ordering in low dimensions
2. Magnetic anisotropies in low dimensions
3. Domains and domain walls in thin films
4. Domains and domain walls in nanostructures

Chapter 3 : Magnetization reversal

1.  Macrospin, uniform magnetization
2. Magnetization reversal in nanostructures
3. Magnetization reversal in extended systems (thin films)

Chapter 4 : Precessional dynamics of magnetization

1. Ferromagnetic resonance and Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert equation

2. Precessionnal switching of macrospin by magnetic field

3. Precessionnal motion of domain walls by magnetic field

4. Extra-torques in the presence of current: impact on precession

Chapter 5 : Spintronics and beyond

1. Brief overview of the field of spintronics and its applications
2. First notions to describe electron and spin transport - CIP-GMR, AMR
3. Spin accumulation - CPP-GMR
4. Transfer of angular momentum - STT
5. Berry curvature, parity and time symmetries - QHE, AHE
6. Brief non-exhaustive introduction to current topics
7. Exercices - AMR, ISHE

Bibliography :

Solid state physics textbook (Ashcroft/Mermin, Kittel,…)
Magnetism: Fundamentals (I), Tremolet de Lacheisserie (2004)
Magnetism and Magnetic Materials, J. M. D. Coey (2010)
Nanomagnetism and spintronics, T. Shinjo (2009)
Lecture notes of Olivier Fruchart
The basics of electron transport in spintronics, EDP Sciences, V. Baltz (2023)

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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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Teachers : Julien Claudon (CEA) and Cyril Branciard (CNRS)

Objectives :
These lectures are aimed to provide building blocks to understand and model the elementary components of light (photons), light matter-interaction at the single photon level, and elements of quantum communication and information processing with single photons.

Program :

Chapter 1: Julien Claudon (16h)
1. Quantification of the free radiation field - Photons
2. Representation of quantum states in phase space
Tutorial: Coherent states
3. Interference in quantum optics, single-photon states and wave-particle duality
4. Light-matter interaction in free space, optical Bloch equations
5. Cavity quantum electrodynamics

Chapter 2: Cyril Branciard (8h)
Entanglement, Bell’s inequalities.
Quantum cryptography (BB84, Ekert protocol), quantum teleportation.
Quantum repeaters, entanglement distribution, quantum networks.

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Teacher : Hermann Sellier (UGA)

Ojectives :
The lecture "Quantum Condensed Matter" provides a theoretical understanding of important quantum effects in solid state systems, including the quantum transport properties of electrons in metals and semiconductors, the macroscopic quantum coherence of superconductivity, and the topological properties of specific band structures.

Program :

Chapter 1: Mesoscopic physics :
- scattering process (electrons, phonons, spin, temperature dependence)
- interference effects (Aharonov-Bohm oscillations, weak localization, spin-orbit interaction)
- ballistic transport (1D conductance, quantum point contacts, quantum Hall effect)
- scattering theory (Landauer-Büttiker formalism, symmetry relations, shot noise)
- quantum dots (level spectrum, Coulomb blockade, stability diagram)

Chapter 2: Superconductivity :
- attractive interaction and Cooper pairing
- BCS theory and excitation spectrum
- order parameter and coherence length
- critical field and vortices
- Cooper pair tunneling in Josephson junctions

Chapter 3: Topological phases :
- topological invariants, spinors, Berry phase
- 1D SSH model, Kitaev chain, Majorana modes
- 2D systems, Dirac fermions, graphene, Klein tunneling
- quantum Hall effect, Chern numbers, conductance quantization

Bibliography for the lessons and tutorials :

Introduction to mesoscopic physics - Yoseph Imry - 1997 (first edition) 2002 (second edition)
Electronic transport in mesoscopic systems - Supriyo Datta  - 1995 (printed) 2013 (numeric)
Quantum transport, introduction to nanoscience - Yuli Nazarov - 2009 (printed) 2012 (numeric)
Electronic quantum transport in mesoscopic semiconductor structures - Thomas Ihn - 2004 (printed and numeric)
Introduction to superconductivity - Michael Tinkham - 1975 (first edition) 1996 (second edition) 2004 (reprint)

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Introduction to the statistical learning theory and prediction (regression/classification)

• Review of Models/Algorithms for supervised/unsupervised learning
• Illustration de ces algorithmes sur différents jeux de données on different dataset
  (intelligence artificielle, Bioinformatics, vision, etc ...)

Content:

• General introduction to the statistical learning theory and prediction (regression/classification)
• Generative approaches: Gaussian discriminant analysis, naïve Bayes hypothesis
• Discriminative approaches: logistic regression
• Prototype approaches: support vector machines (SVM)
• Unsupervised classification (kmeans and mixture model)
• Dictionnary learning / Sparse reconstruction
• Source separation

This course is given at Phelma-INP.

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The active material is made up of a large number of active living or artificial agents, each of which consumes energy to move and exert forces on other agents. The most important example is the plankton which represents the largest biomass on earth. Such systems are inherently out of thermodynamic equilibrium. The examples of active ingredient are very numerous and cover a wide range of length scales. At the nanoscale, important examples are biopolymers and microtubules in biology as well as synthetic janus nanoparticles and microparticles. On a larger scale, active systems are micro-organisms (plankton, bacteria), schools of fish, crowds of pedestrians and swarms of birds. Active matter is a relatively new material classification of soft matter: the most studied model, the Vicsek model, dates from 1995.

Active matter research includes hydrodynamics, kinetic theory and non-equilibrium statistical physics.

This course will present current research with illustrations at all the length scales mentioned above, emphasizing main relevant theoretical models. Within this course, a Python based programming for numerical and experimental study of active matter is proposed to the students at the LIPhy lab.


Content:

I. Microscopic phenomena:

• Self-propelled particles
• Biological and synthetic active particles
• Brownian motion
• Persistence Random walk.
• Interaction with environment (fluid/ particles/ walls)
• Dry active matter. Social interaction models: Vicsek model, Helbing model

II. Hydrodynamics

• Stokes equation
• Dipoles of forces and hydrodynamic interaction
• Pullers/pushers
• Interaction with a wall (Black green function)
• The squirmer model
• Singular solution of Stokes eq.

III. Macroscopic phenomena:

• Kinetic theory
• Rheology
• Bio-convection

IV. Python based programming for numerical and experimental study of active matter

V. Journal club:  Each student studies a published paper and presents it to the class.

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Alternance de 10 à 12 mois en entreprise dans les secteurs d’activités suivant :

Micro-électronique, équipementiers, micro et nanotechnologies, optique, métallurgie.

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