The DisMecHTRA project is motivated by the fundamental question of deformation mechanisms in refractory complex concentrated alloys (RCCA). It aims at a better understanding of their superior mechanical properties at high temperatures typically above 600°C where classical materials drastically soften. The questions raised here are then both of fundamental and technological interests for high temperature industrial applications. Up to date, deformation mechanisms, carried by dislocations, remain largely unknown and some results appear controversial. This is related to the complexity of thermally activated mechanisms in a chemically complex environment, i.e. a concentrated substitutionnal solid solution. Moreover, interstitial impurities are also suspected to strongly impact the dislocation dynamics. In this project, we will propose a combination of forefront experiments (in-situ straining TEM) at nanoscale and atomistic simulations of the dislocation interactions with interstitials, to probe elementary mechanisms in model binary and ternary RCCA in the Mo-Nb-Ti/Ta system. These investigations will be made possible thanks to a mastered material elaboration technique able to control both chemistry and microstructure, and will be complemented by macroscopic mechanical tests to assess high temperature properties.

Dielectric materials are ubiquitous in microelectronic devices because of their ability to polarize. Ferroelectric materials, which exhibit high dielectric constant and spontaneous polarisation, are under intense investigation to improve the local capacitance or to create so-called negative capacitance devices. The ability to measure polarisation locally is therefore essential to furthering understanding. The POLARYS project aims at developing a new methodology to directly measure polarisation and charge densities in thin-layer devices by mapping the electric fields at the nanoscale. The objectives are to determine local polarisation in ferroelectric materials as a function of applied bias across layers and interfaces, and to measure the local effective dielectric constant of thin layers of dielectric materials. The key concept is to fabricate a special geometry of specimen-device incorporating a floating electrode connecting the materials of interest to a reference capacitor of nanometric dimensions and to use the capability of operando electron holography to quantitatively map the local potential when applying a bias. Studies will be performed on dedicated nanostructures combining dielectric materials and ferroelectric materials, and compared to advanced macroscopic electrical measurements. The consortium involves three laboratories: CEMES (Toulouse), C2N (Palaiseau) and LNO-SPEC-CEA (Saclay). The project is divided into four work packages (WP): - WP0 (Resp. C. Gatel - CEMES) concerns the coordination of the project. - WP1 (Resp. J.-B. Moussy, LNO-SPEC) is dedicated to the growth of different dielectrics (DE) and epitaxial ferroelectric (FE) oxide layers, which will be incorporated between electrodes (M) in model and complex systems for electrical measurements and electron holography analysis in the following WPs. We will consider two systems in order to consolidate the POLARYS approach: dielectric constant matched amorphous dielectric systems M/DE1/M/DE2/M and fully epitaxial ferroelectric systems M/DE/M/FE/M. For all samples iso-thickness and iso-capacitance configurations will be grown. Following the results, systems to be elaborated could then be adapted to more complex or original investigations, such as negative capacitance. - WP2 (Resp. S. Matzen, C2N) is focused on the advanced electrical characterization of the films and the patterned devices elaborated in WP1 to be investigated by operando electron holography in WP3. The as-grown films will be first electrically characterized at the local scale by atomic force microscopy (AFM) in order to study the local homogeneity of the electrical resistivity (AFM in conductive mode - CAFM), and using piezoresponse force microscopy (PFM) to investigate the local arrangement of the electrical polarization in ferroelectric layers. The structures elaborated in WP1 will be patterned into microcapacitors and the electrical response of the devices, including capacitance and polarization measurements, will be measured at the macroscale. The local picture and the global dielectric study of the devices will be important inputs for the TEM studies (WP3). - WP3 (Resp. M. Hÿtch, CEMES) focuses on the local measurements of electrical properties by operando electron holography. Using the state-of-the-art methods developed at CEMES The nanodevices elaborated and macroscopically characterized in the previous WP will be prepared for electron transparency and electrically connected before being studied by operando electron holography and complementary TEM methods. The analysis of the sub-nanometric electrostatic potential maps associated to numerical simulations by finite element modeling and comparison with WP2 measurements will allow the uncertainties and limits of this new method of metrology to be evaluated.

The project "FENMAG" relates to the current need to develop new nanomaterials for the production of permanent magnets of high power and with a reduced ecological footprint throughout their life cycle. The issue of permanent magnets has become strategic again this last decade. Magnets are made up of magnetic materials called "hard", that is to say with strong spontaneous magnetization and strong anisotropy, capable of storing strong magnetic energies per unit of mass and volume, and thus reducing the quantities of necessary materials for the intended applications. To date, medium and high performance magnets require rare earth-based materials such as SmCo or NdFeB. The latter must be doped with dysprosium at prohibitive cost to maintain their performance level up to 100-150 ° C. With the development of electrification systems, the production of electricity from renewable energies (wind, maritime), hybrid vehicles, the need in terms of volume is growing very rapidly. Military applications, with the increase in on-board electrical power, the increase in the number of electrically controlled components do not escape this trend. However, rare earth resources are limited, expensive and have become a virtual monopoly of China. To reduce this dependency, it is necessary to produce new magnetic phases with increased performances, and to implement alternatives to the use of rare earths. To meet this fundamental need, the FENMAG project aims to produce iron-nitride magnetic single-domain nanoparticles (a '' - Fe16N2 phase) that could be integrated as new bricks in permanent magnets. The targeted phase a '' - Fe16N2 has serious advantages in view of the desired properties: - a spontaneous magnetization superior to that of massive Fe. - the strongest anisotropy for a material not comprising heavy metal, noble metal or rare earth. - the absence of a risk of diffuse pollution in the event of dissemination, and of non-recycling. - the lowest cost in terms of the elements that compose it. - a theoretical stored energy potential of 135 MGOe, superior to the best materials doped with rare earths (60 MGOe) To carry out this ambitious project, FENMAG associates 3 Toulouse laboratories that have complementary expertise in nanomaterials science: the LCC for the chemical synthesis of perfectly calibrated metallic and magnetic nanoparticles, the CEMES for the study of the chemical and structural order and the SPS (spark plasma sintering) sintering processes, and the LPCNO for the study of the magnetic properties of nanoparticles. The objectives of the project are: - to develop a new, unambiguous and reproducible chemical synthesis pathway of nanoparticles models of iron nitride '' - Fe16N2 (composition, chemical and atomic order controlled) - Shape these nanoparticles to make a small magnet based on iron nitride a '' - Fe16N2 (mass 1g). - Qualify this phase for the manufacture of magnets, potentially in the intermediate zone between rare earth magnets and ferrites. - lay the groundwork for a scale-up of the production of these nanoparticles and facilitate the production of small magnets. The process will involve a SME company for the scale-up phase.

Emerging communication technologies like 5G or Near Field Communication call for voltage tunable ferroelectric (FE) film capacitors to work at higher frequencies or lower voltage, thus requiring the reduction of the FE thickness. Unfortunately, two interface-related phenomena, the FE “dead layer” and leakage current, impede this evolution. Recent encouraging ab initio calculations showed the importance of the chemical bonding, polar discontinuity and distortion mismatch at electrode/FE perovskite interfaces for polarization stabilization and Schottky barrier height (SBH) adjustment. A systematic interface engineering using Combinatorial Pulsed Laser Deposition will chemically modulate electrode/(Ba,Sr)TiO3 interfaces of industrial capacitors. Advanced spectroscopy and microscopy methods coupled with first-principles calculations will help to understand the chemical, structural and electronic mechanisms controlling the SBH and FE polarization at the interface. TRL 6 industrial prototype varactors with the optimized interfaces will be tested against 5G and NFC specifications.

The DALHAI project aims at developing compact all-optical Arithmetic and Logic Units (ALU) exploiting the spatial and spectral distributions of 2D confined plasmons modes in planar cavities tailored in ultrathin Au or Ag crystals. Yet, the optimization of the logic gate output contrast, the definition of the logic function reconfiguration schemes and the generalization of this concept towards complex ALU is a non-intuitive challenge. - - - DALHAI addresses the ALU design challenge with a four-stage strategy that relies, first, on the mode symmetry considerations that led to the successful numerical and experimental results obtained on the crystalline gold double hexagon (DH) devices. Second, evolutionary optimization will be implemented to efficiently survey the parameters space (shape, polarization, ...). Yet the discovery of complex ALU configurations will be limited by the intuitive starting points. Third, to overcome this limitation, DALHAI will develop powerful Hybrid Artificial Intelligence (HAI) tools and interface them with optical simulations and experimental data. Fourth, once trained, the HAI will propose device geometries and excitation protocols to solve the inverse design of complex reconfigurable ALUs. Nanofabrication, simulations, optical benchmarking, operation and reconfiguration of HAI-proposed ALUs will be performed. The experimental fabrication, optical testing and the numerical simulations of plasmonic ALUs will be performed by CEMES (CNRS, Toulouse) and ICB (CNRS, Dijon). CIAD (Univ. Bourgogne, Dijon) will develop the HAI in strong interaction with all partners. - - - DALHAI is structured in four work packages. WP1 is dedicated to management, dissemination and technological transfer actions. WP2 is the nano-optical backbone of the project in which the design, nanofabrication, optical testing, electro-plasmonic addressing and GDM simulations of simple 1st (DH-based) and 2nd (modified geometry) generation plasmonic ALU devices are implemented. WP3 is dedicated to the development of the connectionist and symbolic AI tools and their fusion into the Hybrid AI with continuous interactions with the numerical and experimental implementation of optimized plasmonic modal ALU (evolutionary optimization, 3rd generation). In WP4 the HAI will be deployed to propose structure and operation schemes of complex ALUs (4th generation) with associated experimental and numerical optical benchmarking, the HAI output will be qualified and specifications on the direct interfacing of the HAI with hardware and GDM routines will be established. - - - DALHAI targets two sets of science-to-technology breakthroughs with potential impact covered by specific dissemination and technology transfer actions. (1) The experimental nano-optical concepts of modal plasmonic gates and its generalization to ALU is an unprecedented holistic approach with which DALHAI ambitions to set a radically new and technologically relevant paradigm. DALHAI will disseminate its results at the crossroads of nano-optics and IT in high impact journals, in impactful conferences, in national and EU networks. (2) DALHAI will adapt HAI to assist the design of the complex ALU to step up in complexity, numbers of input/output and reconfigurability beyond intuitive design. DALHAI ambitions to enhance the innovation capacity by merging interdisciplinary fields and to establish a national and European leadership in HAI-reinforced nano-photonics. In this regards, DALHAI aims at a software maturity at TRL7. The machine learning part will be available for tests but the pioneering interdisciplinary approach of HAI in nanophotonics will be the subject of an invention declaration. We will establish an exploitation plan beyond the project duration with the technology transfer accelerator office SATT. Throughout the project a Wiki plus a public website will be maintained to share data but also as a promotional and educational tools towards the general public.