The objective of this project is to propose a set of tools for the design and implementation of composite structures with periodic inclusions to absorb vibration and acoustic waves. The originality of the project lies in the integrated approach that will be implemented to ensure technical feasibility and reliability of devices that will be designed. Target applications are mainly absorbing walls, with higher efficiency than conventional devices thanks to the inclusions. The structures will be developed on the basis of polymers (PU or silicone) that will be used as composite matrices in which the inclusions, potentially resonant, will create band gaps by wave interference effects. The devices will then couple the effects of band gaps to the effects of intrinsic dissipation of the materials. The materials will be used either in bulk, or porous state for applications where acoustic phenomena are predominant. For the latter category, there will be a partial controlled degassing to keep air bubbles in the material in order to generate open pores. A part of the project will be dedicated to process control development and manufacturing of polymer based structures, and the determination of the relationship between process parameters and mechanical properties (particularly in terms of dissipation) of the material. The design of these structures makes use of advanced techniques for finite element modeling, including multiphysics phenomena, dissipative effects and taking into account periodicity in multidimensional space. An important part of the work will then be dedicated to the elaboration and validation of these models in order to have efficient computational tools for the design, optimization and reliability analyses. The optimization of the structures will be carried out taking into account the constraints related to manufacturing and expected performances of the system. In particular, the inclusions may be rigid (metal structure such as balls or rollers), or resonant, in order to obtain physical properties typically observed in metamaterials. The difference here concerns the fact that we are dealing with macro structures, including mechanical couplings between materials, some of them being highly damped, and multiphysical couplings. So we use the generic term metacomposites in this project. To give a very general adaptability to the devices designed in the project, one of the tasks will be dedicated to the development of techniques that could render the system tunable or adaptive, based on shape memory polymers and electroactive polymers. The analysis of sensitivity and reliability of complex systems such as metacomposites are essential steps for their development on a large scale. It is proposed to carry out these analyses to ensure, firstly, the control of the various parameters and their impact on features of interest (vibroacoustic performances), and secondly, the quantification of reliability associated with failure modes previously identified. These tests, as the entire project, will be carried out for completeness on the various parameters involved in the design of the metacomposites, from the manufacturing issues to the final integration and in situ vibroacoustic validation.

Tools capable of exploring matter with ultimate spatial resolution have attracted a tremendous interest over the past decades. Among those, scanning probe microscopes (SPMs) have played a pre-eminent role allowing one to visualize, manipulate and address electronic, magnetic or optical properties with atomic-scale resolution. A drawback of SPMs is their very low chemical sensitivity, a constant limitation for investigations aiming at characterizing fundamental chemical phenomena occurring at the molecular level. Conversely, Raman spectroscopy constitutes a powerful chemical identification tool that provides extremely detailed and direct information on the structure of organic species, but whose spatial resolution is intrinsically limited by diffraction. The concept of AtomiChem is to combine these two approaches, namely STM and Raman spectroscopy, to develop an ultimate tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (TERS) instrumentation, also named “Pico-Raman”, allowing one to characterize the chemical structure of organic systems with sub-nanometer resolution. The two main objectives of the proposal are: i. Developing and setting-up a pico-Raman apparatus for chemically resolved investigations at the atomic-scale, fully compatible with ultra-high vacuum (UHV) and low-temperature. A final objective of the project is to provide a “plug-and-play” efficient solution. ii. Developing an operando pico-Raman approach to probe the so-far non-reachable structure-function relationships in single-molecule devices

Over the last decades, MEMS research has focused on the engineering process, but future challenges will consist in adding embedded intelligence to MEMS systems to obtain distributed intelligent MEMS. One intrinsic characteristic of MEMS is their ability to be mass-produced. This, however, poses scalability problems because a significant number of MEMS can be placed in a small volume. Managing this scalability requires paradigm-shifts both in hardware and software parts. Furthermore, the need for actuated synchronization, programming, communication and mobility management raises new challenges in both control and programming. Finally, MEMS are prone to faulty behaviors as they are mechanical systems and they are issued from a batch fabrication process. A new programming paradigm which can meet these challenges is therefore needed. In this project, we propose to develop CO2Dim, which stands for Coordination and Computation in Distributed Intelligent MEMS. CO2DIM is a new programming language based on a joint development of programming and control capabilities so that actuated synchronization can easily be programmed and can scale up to millions of units. CO2Dim’s challenges, then, are to guarantee the atomicity of operations as well as time constraints thanks to performance awareness.

The project aims at developing enabling technology for waste heat recovery in industrial processes. Their overall efficiency could be improved by converting the waste heat into electricity. The chosen plan consists of implementing clusters of miniature thermodynamic Stirling machines. The core technology is a multiphase piezoelectric smart membrane Stirling engine. It is fabricated using mass production: MEMS machining, assembling and thin film technology. Expected performances allow large fraction of electric energy to be extracted from the low temperature waste heat. The relevance of Stirling cycle for a microminiaturized generator has been demonstrated and basic underlying technologies for its fabrication are available through the project partners’ facilities and capacities. This 42 months work program aims at demonstrating operation and defining opportunity of waste heat recovery using MIcro-STIrling Clusters (MISTIC). The activities will be centered on the development of micro-Stirling generators test prototypes and will include theoretical and experimental analysis of thermal, structural, and fluidic behavior. The partners of the project: SYMME lab. of the Université de Savoie, FEMTO-ST and the international CNRS/UMI-LN2 lab. have demonstrated the required skills and knowledge to complete the work and achieve the objectives. The project will also benefit from the expertise of department of Mechanical Engineering of McGill University especially for MEMS process, modeling and characterization. Requiring a multidisciplinary strategy, the tasks specifically include: 1) The development of thermal isolation frames for micro-devices; 2) The development and characterization of smart membrane structures; 3) The Stirling regenerator optimization; 4) The demonstration of the operation of multiphase micro-Stirling generator; 5) The analysis and selection of industrial applications opportunities. Thus, this project will result in important advances in applied thermal and Power MEMS and heat transfer modeling and optimization.

Invasive biopsy is still today the reference diagnostic technique of a lot of skin pathologies (inflammation, tumors). Nevertheless, several situations of diagnosis should be kept as conservative as possible. Consequently, non-invasive imaging methods (ultrasounds, computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging) have been developed for clinical use. In particular, existing optical coherence tomography (OCT) systems can perform non-invasive 3D optical biopsies of skin, improving patient’s quality of life. Nevertheless, these bulk systems are expensive (100 k€), essentially only affordable at the hospital and hence not sufficiently employed by physicians or dermatologists as an early diagnosis tool. MEMS-VCSEL technology offers a novel combination of high compactness, high speed, record coherence length, and flexibility for wavelength-tuned OCT systems. The use of optically pumped MEMS-VCSELs sources for SS-OCT at 1.3 µm for ophthalmology was first demonstrated in 2011 but since that time, the threshold towards the use of 850nm low-cost electrically-pumped tunable devices in a compact system is still not crossed. DOCT-VCSEL project aims at demonstrating a portable SS-OCT imaging system based on novel electrically-pumped MEMS-VCSEL light-source technology operating at 850 nm and taking advantage of polymers and semiconductors-based collective micro-nanotechnologies. These new compact and low cost sources can be arranged in arrays and will be completing an adapted architecture of array-type active Mirau interferometers developed within the European collaborative project VIAMOS (2012-2015). Thanks to this combination, we will develop a miniature (< 20 cm3), low cost SS-OCT imager (15 k€) providing cross-sectional 3-D tomograms with a depth greater than 0.5 mm, axial and transverse resolutions of 6 µm (corresponding to a laser tunability of 35 nm) and imaging field of 8x8 mm2, enabling doctors to perform painless and earlier detection of skin pathologies, including intra-operatively for the delimitation of gesture. For this purpose, DOCT-VCSEL brings together an experienced consortium made of 2 research institutes (LAAS/Toulouse and FEMTO-ST/Besançon) and 2 medical groups (Service de Dermatologie and Inserm CIC1431/CHU de Besançon). Partner’s expertise includes MEMS, MOEMS, VCSELs, OCT microscopy and dermatology. A unique team of transverse expertise is thus gathered in DOCT-VCSEL to design and demonstrate a miniature solution for in vivo 3D skin imaging to further address the early diagnosis of cutaneous pathologies that will potentially benefit millions of people worldwide. To validate the technical and functional performances of DOCT-VCSEL microsystem, translational trials will be performed at the UHB in the department of Dermatology by the end of the project. For an easy and rapid analysis, a specific imaging processing tool will be developed with the help of the company Pixience specialized in skin measurements tools.