The continuous rapid development of micro and nanotechnology requires a perpetual improvement of the performance of micro-devices and associated materials. These scientific advances go through a thorough understanding of both the fundamental properties of the materials used and the architecture of the systems. The works of our team1 fits into this field, associated with researches on the integration of materials and laser process development.
One of the developed material concerns the VO2 ceramic oxide. This fascinating material presents a metal-insulator transition (MIT) followed by a structural phase change material (PCM) near room temperature (@341K). This peculiar characteristic makes this material very interesting for electronic and optical devices requiring a switching behavior. Taking benefit of the very high change in the electrical resistance (5 orders) and the huge reliability, we built the first VO2 based RF-microwave switch demonstrators2 in association with Xlim laboratory. Following this work and exploiting the very short time commutation (less than 100 ps), we pursuit, more recently, the interest for VO2 based micro-wave electronic device applications through a project bringing together academic and industrial partners3.
The strong discontinuity in several physical properties makes this ceramic oxide unique for different and large applications. In the framework of a collaboration with the P' laboratory (Poitiers, France) and Merida Centre (Mexico), we investigate the thermal conduction and radiative properties of the VO2 thin films. Very recently, results underline the potentialities of this oxide for thermal rectification4, opening opportunities for the synthesis of radiative diode and radiative thermal transistor.
1La3M: Laser for Materials, Microsystems & Microstructures in Axis2 : Plasmas and Lasers Processes
2F. Dumas-Bouchiat, C. Champeaux, A. Catherinot, A. Crunteanu, P. Blondy, "RF-microwave switches based on reversible semiconductor-metal transition of VO2 thin films synthesized by pulsed-laser deposition" Appl. Phys. Lett. 91 (22) 223505 (2007)
3IRCER (Limoges, Coordinator), LMGP (Grenoble), THALES, (Palaiseau), Xlim (Limoges), Lab-Stic (Brest), IETR (Rennes), Te-OX (Paris) "Microwave Ultra-Fast Reconfigurable Electronic Devices - MUFRED" ANR project - DS0708 (2016) – website: http://www.unilim.fr/mufred/
4C.L. Gomez-Heredia, J.A. Ramirez-Rincon, J. Ordonnez-Miranda, O. Ares, J.J. Alvarado-Gil, C. Champeaux, F. Dumas-Bouchiat, Y. Ezzahri, K. Joulain, "Thermal hysteresis measurement of the VO2 emissivity and its application in thermal rectification" Sci. Rep. 8 8479 (2018)
Contacts : frederic.dumas-bouchiat@unilim.fr corinne.champeaux@unilim.fr
