The READMI project is mainly dedicated to the remote energy input and the remote control of mechatronics systems of micro or meso-scaled mechatronic systems composed of several actuators. These two functions are often performed in a wired way and the increase of wires and connections is a recurrent problem in strongly miniaturised systems. The research works performed in the READMI project are linked to the microfactory/desktop factory concept in which the spacial and functional flexibilities are required as it is an evolvable production system. With the aim to allow flexible production, partners propose to develop the digital actuation principle at meso and micro scales, in order to avoid wires in the mechatronics system environment because this kind of actuators does not need closed loop control then no sensors. The smart control will enable to control selectively actuators, according to the wavelength of incident radiations, or a combination (duo, trio…) of wavelengths, each actuators being only active for a specific spectral stimulus. Moreover, partners of READMI project propose to integrate additional functions in these meso or microactuators, thus increasing the system smartness (position detection and remote communication of this position), without addition of wires nor energy overconsumption, thanks to low-level detectors integrated to the system and possessing miniaturised wireless communication modules and mechanical energy harvesting devices for their energy supply. As a demonstration, these remote control and remote energy supply will be applied the problematic of meso and micro conveyance in the microfactory context. The long term objective is to provide smart conveyance systems for micro-objects entirely wireless and energetically autonomous. For this objective, partners will use their own existing research results and their complementary expertises (design of digital-actuation-based mechatronic systems, design of thin-layers optical filters, development of micro harvesting and storage energy sources, microfabrication techniques). Experimental demonstrators based on these two technologies will be produced : the first one uses digital electromagnetic actuators controlled by selective spectral optical means and the second one composed of bistable structures actuated by shape memory alloys having a spectrally selective activation. A microfabricated electromagnetic demonstrator will enable to validate, in a first time, the principle of the remote control using photodetectors having independent quadrants, each one being selective for one unique wavelength. Two other demonstrators using bistable meso or micro structures actuated by shape memory alloys will also be developed because this technology is more adapted to both remote energy supply and wireless control in the same time. The first one of these demonstrators will enable, at the microscale, the validation of the coupling of energy supply and control without any wires in the workspace of the actuator, while the second one will enable to validate the principles of position detection and transmission of this position by radiofrequency means, as well as the mechanical or optical energy harvesting using piezoelectric or photoelectric components.

It is today well established, both among analogue and digital communication communities, that optics cannot be avoided in modern communication systems. Optics indeed offers crucial advantages over coaxial cables for signal transportation, in terms of propagation losses, bandwidth, and electromagnetic immunity. In addition to the signal transportation, a major objective for radar and communication systems is then to perform the signal processing also in the optical domain, in order to avoid additional optical-to-electrical and electrical-to-optical conversion losses. This objective gave rise some decades ago to the emerging of a new research area, namely Microwave Photonics, whose rationale was to use the advantages of photonic technologies to provide functions in microwave systems that are very complex or even impossible to carry out directly in the electrical domain. Besides, recent years have witnessed a growing investment on Silicon Photonics technology. The initial motivation for this technology is, through platforms such as EpixFab, to benefit from the electronics mass volume production yields and costs, by developing CMOS compatible fabrication processes for photonics devices. The objective of this project is to exploit the Silicon Photonics and photonic crystal struc-tures potential in integration and functionalities toward the realization of an integrated optical processor. The targeted device is a reconfigurable finite impulse filter which, from the technological point of view, can be seen as a multiple (up to 8) arms interferometer, with controllable group delay, optical phase and intensity for each arm. The device will be implemented in three applications, namely a bit sequence recognition setup for data stream synchronization, chromatic dispersion compensation, and in a reconfigurable RF filter for radar applications. A key point in the project is that the degree of integration allowed by Silicon Photonics and photonic crystals approach must significantly reduce the optical phase instabilities between the arms of the interferometer, which makes possible the coherent operation of the device. A major objective of the project will therefore be to control and use the optical interferences to realize a filter with negative coefficients in the impulse response. Such a property leads to an increased flexibility in the RF filter design and performances, and will enable to operate with more sophisticated modulation formats (such as duo-binary) in the bit-pattern recognition application. Finally, the project will benefit from the technological and scientific expertise of the part-ners in photonic crystals technology (design and realization of delay lines and directional couplers) and in Silicon Photonics (waveguides, photodiodes, and rib to photonic crystals waveguides mode adaptation). The consortium also gathers recognized expertise in the application fields, both in digital and analogue signal processing.

The terahertz (THz) frequency domain, between infrared and microwave spectral range, is referred as the « THz gap » because of the lack of compact and efficient semiconductor devices. Exploration of this spectral region is considerably developing due to the wide range of applications: medical diagnostic, security, detection of molecules, astronomy, non-destructive control of material, high data rate secured communications in open space… One pre-requisite for scientific applications like spectroscopy, astrophysics, space imaging, is the availability of compact, fast and low-noise detectors. A necessary large detectivity imposes the use of cryogenic cooling for the detector and the main challenge is to increase the working temperature. However, for a widespread use of the THz technology, compact sources working at non-cryogenic temperatures are necessary. The OptoTeraGaN project is intended to tackle both issues, namely the development of high-detectivity THz quantum detectors with increased operating temperature with respect to existing technologies as well as THz light emitters, both based on the quantum cascade (QC) concept and on high-quality polar and semipolar GaN/AlGaN semiconductors. We intend to benefit from the large energy of optical phonons in GaN materials for demonstrating QC devices in a much broader spectral range (1-15 THz) and in particular in the 5-12 THz range, which cannot be covered with other III-V semiconductors. The large optical phonon energy is also one key point for increasing the operating temperature of THz QCD and for achieving room temperature operation of THz QC lasers, which appears to be out of range of current GaAs-based QC laser technology. The first objective of the project is to demonstrate THz quantum cascade detectors (QCD). QCDs are formed by the repetition of active and extractor quantum well (QW) regions and rely on intersubband (ISB) absorption in the active QW and photo-excited electron transfer through the extractor from one period to the other. In contrast to existing THz quantum detectors such as GaAs QWIPs, these photovoltaic devices operate under zero bias and do not suffer from any dark current, which is one main advantage for increasing the operation temperature while benefiting from the maximum detectivity limited by the background (BLIP). Our target is to demonstrate THz QCDs with a responsivity larger than 100 mA/W and a BLIP temperature of 77 K at 12 THz. A second related objective of the project is to make significant progress towards THz QC lasers in the GaN/AlGaN material system. We will make use of the advanced know-how acquired on the design, growth and processing of GaN-based THz QCD devices to develop electroluminescent sources. One first goal is to develop spectrally narrow THz light emitting devices at room temperature based on in-plane transport, which can find a number of applications because of their fast modulation capabilities. Our final target is to demonstrate stimulated gain under vertical transport using plasmonic waveguide resonators and lasing at cryogenic temperatures. The consortium, which regroups teams with a world-class expertise on GaN-based material growth by MBE and MOVPE, GaN ISB devices, as well as on QCL/QCD and THz technology and characterization, has been specifically assembled to meet the objectives of this basic research project. The recent demonstration by members of the consortium of GaN-based ultrafast QCDs in the mid-IR spectral range as well as the first observation of reproducible resonant tunnelling and THz ISB electroluminescence from GaN/AlGaN QWs are preliminary results, which constitute the major building blocks required for the present project. The project OptoTeraGaN is of major technologic and scientific impact in agreement with “défi n°7 société de l’information et de la communication: micro et nanotechnologie, optoélectronique”.

The three academic partners in this proposal, in association with a startup company, propose to demonstrate theoretically and experimentally the possibility to integrate a proprietary technology for Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) on a “photonic chip”, by using the quickly developing Silicon Photonics technologies. The practical QKD implementation will be based on Quantum Continuous Variables (CVQKD), which has been developed and patented by two partners of the project, LCF and LTCI. The third partner, IEF, has international expertise in the domain of Silicon Photonics. The questions to be addressed range from fundamental issues (e.g. choice of a suitable QKD protocol, and associated security proof) to more applied ones (e.g. design and optimization of the appropriate photonics components). It will also stimulate progress of Silicon Photonics technologies, in the direction of more efficient and low-loss optical components. The start-up company SeQureNet is interested in carrying out some specific aspects of the research, and – in the long run – in exploiting its outcomes. If successful, the project may open entirely new perspectives for QKD, by reducing the price and size of devices by several orders of magnitude.

Today’s pacemakers are already pretty small, about 8 cm3, but to insert one a surgeon has to cut open a patient to install the device on the right side of the chest, near the heart. Wires, called leads, are then connected from the pacemaker through the veins to the stimulation locations within the heart, in order to provide electrical stimulation to the heart muscle. The leads are often pointed out as the weakest element in a pacing system. Examples of lead problems include: lead dislodgment lead malfunction, lead fracture, lead infection, cardiac perforation, coronary sinus dissection, vein thrombosis, cardiac valve injury, or lead thrombi. Overall, pacing lead failure occurs up to 21% of the time within 10 years after pacemaker implantation. Progress in microelectronics and micro-sensor technology has made possible all pacemaker components to fit in a very small volume (< 1 cm3). Such a tiny pacemaker can be directly implanted on the endocardium within a heart cavity without any lead. Hence, this is called a leadless pacemaker. Leadless pacemakers are expected to make a revolution on the next generation of pacemakers. Their main advantage is to remove leads. Moreover, it is believed that a leadless device would be much easier to implant. Therefore it should decrease the implantation time and the associated costs, and improve the patient comfort. Several companies such as SORIN Group, Medtronic, St Jude Medical and EBR System are developing their own leadless solutions. For this purpose, all pacemaker components (packaging, electronic circuits and micro-sensors) have reached industrial maturity for leadless implementation, except for the power source. Considering the current state-of-the art of lithium-based technology used to power pacemakers, a 0.6 cm3 battery could last approximately from 7 to 9 years. However, although the replacement of a current pacemaker is a common and relatively simple procedure, a replacement of a leadless pacemaker would be much more difficult. Hence, a solution would be to implant supplementary capsules without extracting those whose batteries are depleted. This however can take very significant space in the heart and can hinder its operation. Therefore, long lasting regenerative energy sources as alternatives to traditional batteries are particularly interesting for leadless pacemakers. In a previous FUI project led by SORIN, it has been validated that a dedicated piezoelectric micro-scavenger could convert mechanical energy of human heart into electricity with sufficient level for powering a leadless pacemaker. With scientific objectives focused on reliability and robustness of piezoelectric scavengers, LAUREAT project aims at developing a fundamental technological building block which is the corner stone on the way to the industrialization of future cardiac implants. LAUREAT project aims at overcoming several technological and scientific barriers: Long term reliability of piezoelectric materials/devices, ageing effects over performances, defect mechanisms of piezoelectric materials/devices, design for reliability, reproducible manufacturing technology for materials at the frontier of bulk materials and thick films, high yield volume production with competitive cost. The project demonstrator will address a new piezoelectric µ-scavenger that converts heart motion into usable electrical energy. The scavenger will be designed to maximize conversion efficiency with high degree of reliability and robustness. It is here proposed to pave the way towards industrialization of reliable and self-autonomous leadless pacemakers as an alternative to current battery-powered implants. LAUREAT’s objective is to provide autonomous and robust solutions that will last for more than 20 years in operation (instead of less than 9 years for battery solutions) preventing replacement surgery for patients and reinforcing the competiveness of medical device industry in Europe.