PHY_52993_EP - Semi-conducteurs et composants (2024-2025)

Program manager:
Henri-Jean DROUHIN
LSI, DAER, Ecole polytechnique; phone/cell: 01 69 33 40 17/ 06 07 11 55 52.
E-mail: henri-jean.drouhin@polytechnique.edu

Other faculty members:
Yvan BONNASSIEUX
LPICM, Ecole Polytechnique; phone: 01 69 33 43 02.
E-mail: yvan.bonnassieux@polytechnique.edu.

Jean-Eric WEGROWE
LSI, Ecole Polytechnique; phone: 01 69 33 45 55.
E-mail: jean-eric.wegrowe@polytechnique.edu.

Henri JAFFRES
CNRS,Thalès. Tél. 01 69 41 58 70
E-mail: henri.jaffres@cnrs-thales.fr

INTRODUCTION
The present program relates to topics which may be truly fundamental or applied, and to R&D in a high-tech area. The trainee may, for example, be integrated into a team of physicists developing concepts that will open new avenues for information processing; it can also be integrated into an R&D team, in a company developing components or systems. Between the engineer and the researcher there is a difference of point of view regarding physics: for the former, this is a means rather than an end. But whether Physics is used for its applications or whether it is the very object of research, it is always the same Physics: Maxwell's equations or the principles of Quantum Mechanics are written under the same form and have the same content in an industrial research center or in a fundamental research laboratory!
The specificity of the job of a R&D engineer is usually to carry out a project, seeking the ultimate degree of performance and efficiency. The engineer has also to be pragmatic, because he handles with practical constraints - especially deadlines and cost. Industrial projects generally have a strong multidisciplinary character, which does not mean that everyone becomes a specialist in everything but is able to interact effectively with specialists from other disciplines.
The internship will be performed in a host laboratory which can be affiliated to a university or to industry. Internships in large companies or in startups can also be offered. The international dimension of high-tech activities naturally leads to numerous internships abroad, in high-visibility laboratories. In all cases, the trainee will take part, as a team member, in an ongoing project. The domain is broad and it includes micro- and nano-electronics, optoelectronics, spintronics, large area electronics, thin-film materials, nanomaterials, magnetic materials, optical instrumentation...
This is a logical and unavoidable first step for those who will continue their education in Electrical Engineering, a field that spans a very broad spectrum in US universities.

INTERNSHIP TRAINING
The program is open to students whatever the detail of their curriculum at the Ecole. However, regarding some internships, prerequisites will be requested.
A consistent 3^rd-year curriculum is expected. Semiconductor courses and their applications are only open to students who attended the course “Physics of Semiconductor and Components” (PHY567). Internships in spintronics (spin electronics) are open to students who have followed the related training module (EA PHY581B). Indeed, well-focused preparation - during the EA the students work on research papers connected to their internship topic - and an extended period of training are mandatory to achieve results at the cutting edge of research. It is not exceptional for students who have followed this track to publish in leading international journals, as an output of their internship. In general, internships in another country (USA, Canada, Japan, Korea, Australia…) continue until the end of August. It is strongly recommended to start the definition of the internship as soon as possible, in discussion with the faculty. These internships can play an important role in the preparation of 4th year courses.

EXAMPLES OF TOPICS
- Semiconductors (electronic and optical properties, growth);
- Micro- and nano-electronics (design, development and characterization of components ...);
- Optoelectronics (quantum-well lasers, quantum-cascade lasers, III-V devices);
- Spintronics (spin injection and transfer, Spin Hall effect, topological matter, GMR, TMR, MRAMs, read heads: see for example: http://spie.org/OPN/conferencedetails/spintronics);
- Large surface electronics, organic electronics (flat screens, photovoltaics);
- Plasmonics;
- Detectors (infrared, X-rays ...) and sensors;
- Thin films for applications (semiconductor, optical, etc.);
- Nanomaterials (carbon nanotubes, nanowires, nanopores ...);
- Physical chemistry of surfaces and interfaces;
- Magnetism and magnetic materials;
- Superconductivity: materials and applications;
- Physical metallurgy (dislocations, alloys ...);
- Glasses, polymers, liquid crystals...
- Optical instrumentation (ellipsometry...);
- Medical electronics;
- Industrial electronics, telecommunications;
- Microelectronics technologies, circuit design;
- Signal processing, image processing.

HOST LABORATORIES
At the Ecole Polytechnique:
- Laboratory of Irradiated Solids (LSI);
- Laboratory of Physics of Interfaces and Thin Films (PICM);
- Laboratory of Condensed-Matter Physics (PMC).

In France (examples of laboratories or host companies – there are many opportunities):
- Center of Nanosciences and Nanotechnologies, C2N (http://www.c2n.universite-paris-saclay.fr);
- Laboratory Pierre Aigrain (ENS - Paris);
- Laboratory of Solid Physics (University Paris Sud);
- CEA (Saclay, Grenoble, Cadarache);
- ONERA (Palaiseau);
- Thales-R & T (Polytechnique Campus);
- Saint-Gobain Research (Aubervilliers);
- Sagem (Argenteuil, Massy);
- ST Microelectronics (Crolles).

Abroad (examples of laboratories or host companies there are many opportunities):
- Australian National University (Canberra, Australia).
- EPFL (Lausanne, CH);
- Paul Drude Institute, Berlin (Germany);
- Peter Grünberg Institute, Jülich (Germany);
- Universität Stuttgart (Germany);
- Universität Würzburg (Germany);
- Universität Regensburg (Germany);
- Politecnico di Milano (Italy);
- Politecnico di Torino (Italy);
- Universities of Kyoto and Tokyo (Japan);
- IOFFE institute, Saint Petersburg (Russia);
- University of Barcelona (Spain);
- University of Cambridge (UK);
- University at Buffalo (USA);
- University of California (Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego, and Santa Barbara, USA);
- California State University (Northridge, CA, USA);
- Harvard University (USA);
- MIT (Cambridge, MA, USA);
- Northwestern University (Chicago, USA);
- Virginia Tech (Blacksburg, USA);
- Headway Technologies, Milpitas (CA, USA);
- LAM Research (Fremont, USA);