Nanostructuration Chimique des Matériaux Avancés

Thin film deposition

The group uses a Fiji 200 ALD reactor (Veeco-Cambridge Nanotech) coupled to a glovebox (Mbraun, Unilab). The equipment allows performing both thermal- and plasma-ALD on 200 mm samples. The system contains 4 solid/liquid precursor sources and 5 gas lines. The chamber can operate from room temperature till 400°C and it is equipped with a quartz crystal microbalance (Inficon), a spectroscopic ellipsometer (J. A. Woollam Co, M-2000V) to monitor, in realtime, the film thickness and quadrupole mass spectrometer (Hiden, HPR30 - 200 amu). The reactor is connected to a glove box (MBraun GmbH) to manipulate the samples under a controlled atmosphere and to fill sensitive and hazardous precursors.

A second, home-made, ALD reactor has been installed in 2018. Thermal-ALD processes can be performed on 100mm diameter samples at T<250°C using 4 solid/liquid precursor lines and 3 gas lines (O₂,O₃ and NH₃)

Electrochemistry

The team owns several potentiostats/galvanostats to perform anodic oxidation of Al, Ti and Si to grow porous Al₂O₃ membranes, TiO₂ nanotubes and macroporous Si, respectively. They are also used to perform electrochemical deposition of various materials within these nanostructures and to carry out both DC- and AC-electrochemical characterizations. The group uses a high voltage (100V/100mA) potentiostat for both DC- and AC-electrochemical measurements (Modulab, Solartron) and a high current (100V/1A) analog potentiostat (PAR 173). In addition, an Agilent high voltage source (two-electrode configuration) is used for Al high voltage anodization. Electrochemcial characterization is also performed using a rotating disk and ring disk electrode (Ametek, RDE636).

The photoelectrochemical properties of the functionalized surfaces are probed under white light (Oriel Apex) or monochromatic (Newport Cornerstone 130) illuminations using a PC-controlled potentiostat (PAR 273, 100V/1A).

Thermal treatments

Tube furnace (Nabertherm, RHTC 80-230/15) to perform thermal treatments under controlled atmospheres up to 1500°C.

National

• University of Rennes I - CNRSCollaboration with Dr. Gabriel Loget, ISCR (UMR 6226 University of Rennes - CNRS), on black Si grown by anodic etching functionnalized by ALD of TiO₂.

International

• Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nüremberg

French-Bavarian collaboration with Prof. Julien Bachmann, Institute of Inorganic and Analytical Chemistry, on Engineering of a photoelectrochemically active i-p interface has been started in 2014. The goal of this project is to create and characterize semiconductor junctions between thin layers of p-doped NiO and intrinsic (undoped) Sb₂S₃, then optimize their geometry and growth parameters in terms of performance towards photo-electrochemical transformations of water.

This project was funded by the CCUFB-BFHZ in 2014. It has been supported by the PROCOPE in 2016-17 (German Academic Exchange Service, French Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Education).

• University of Ottawa

Since mid 2012, we have established a collaboration with Prof. Elena Baranova, head of the Laboratory on Electrochemical Engineering, on the Oxidation of ethanol or formic acid on nanostructured catalysts formed by Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD)

This project has been funded (2012-2013) by the Fonds France Canada pour la Recherche (Franco-Canadian Research Fund)

• University of Pisa

Collaboration with Prof. Giuseppe Barillaro, Dpt of Information Engineering, on well-ordered Si micropillars grown by anodic etching and then functionnalized by ALD of TiO₂.

• CNano PACA

Meetings

• CNano 2018, Toulon, Dec. 11-13 Nov.
• Journées Scientifiques de Porquerolles