Role in the project: The NIMP group will focus on the metallic and oxide bottom electrodes for the ferroelectric based MFM devices, using the radio-frequency sputtering and/or pulsed laser ablation. They will optimize the growth of bottom electrode in order to further promote the growth of highly textured ferroelectric thin films. The NIMP team will also prepare (BaxSr1-x)TiO3 thin films by RF sputtering method and BNT layers by sol-gel method onto different types of substrates (MgO single crystal and silicon) with different bottom electrodes (oxide SrRuO3 or metallic Ir) in order to fabricate MFM devices that will meet the specific antenna/sensor requirements. Morphological, structural and low frequency characterizations will be carried out on the electrodes and the ferroelectric films. In addition, tunable ferroelectric structures will be investigated numerically (with HFSS and CST Microwave Studio) and experimentally in close collaboration with Xlim, after deciding the most suitable method (microprobe station, resonance methods or free space methods in anechoic chamber).

Team qualification in the field of proposal: The Romanian research team involved in this project proposal has experience of over 25 years in the field of piezoelectric, semiconductor and microwave materials. The past research activities were focused on preparation and characterization of oxide materials in bulk and thin film form as well as on development of piezoelectric devices, cross-coupled microwave filters, compact dielectric resonator antennas, etc. The  team experience in the research field of this proposal is revealed by the results obtained in the study of ferroelectric properties of BNT-BT solid solutions, BT obtained by mechano-chemical synthesis, (Ba,Sr)TiO3 with different Curie point determined by the strontium content. Moreover, the NIMP group gained a valuable experience in growth and morpho-structural and dielectric investigation of (Ba,Sr)TiO3 and BNT-BT thin films.

Role in the project: The role of the SPCTS team in the project is to design and develop agile materials with optimized quality for microwave and millimeter wave components. Several ferroelectric thin films will be elaborated by pulsed laser deposition (PLD). The flexibility of the PLD setups allows the deposition of thin films as well as the realization of multilayers or nanocomposites films (using multitargets deposition set-ups). Ferroelectric thin films such as (Ba,Sr)TiO3 and (Na,Bi)TiO3 (noted NBT) will be firstly chosen due to the extensive background knowledge acquired by the French partners for both its elaboration and its properties characterization in the microwave domain. The material properties will be designed and optimized for integration within components operating in the millimeter wave domain. Moreover others ferroelectric materials based on the PLD multitarget elaboration (doping, multilayers…) will be proposed.

Team qualification in the field of proposal: The participants from SPCTS have a large experience in the domain of ceramic materials development as bulk or thin films (physical and chemical deposition processes). They have developed in particular an important know-how at national and international levels towards the laser matter interaction: numerical simulations of the phenomena involved in the interaction as well as the fabrication of advanced nano-composite materials. Extensive experience has been acquired in the fields of thin films deposition (several state-of-the art laser-based PLD deposition chambers) and synthesis of nanostructured materials by developing a unique technique coupling PLD and low-energy Cluster-Beam Generator. Superconducting, ferroelectric, piezoelectric, Metal Insulator Transition materials in the form of thin films, multilayer or nano-composites with excellent quality have been obtained. In addition, SPCTS participants possess a substantial expertise for the morphological, structural, optical and electrical characterization of materials involving thin films, nanoparticles and nanostructured materials (state of the art technical platforms for high-resolution SEM/TEM characterisation, X-ray diffraction, ellipsometry, Hall-effect, complex impedance analysis, etc.)

Role in the project: In this project, the AirMems activities are intended to guide the technical project development matching with the industrial needs by sharing its market know-how. AirMems vision implies that the technical development of the devices developed under MASTERS could be complementary to the RF MEMS technology and that the products and the knowledge developed under the project are perfectly adequate to its short- and medium term future development. Indeed, AirMems aims to be one of the European Leader in high frequency electronic and the results provided at the end of the MASTERS project will enlarge its application domains and current product portfolio. It will also allow enhancing its technology know-how necessary to address the complexity of next generation communication systems working in the millimeter wave frequency bands.

Team qualification in the field of proposal: AirMems is a company that design, fabricate and provides Radio-Frequency circuits based on a technology called RF MEMS. It has experience in design and fabrication of tunable RF devices for space, defense with the aim to address mass–oriented markets. The company fabrication process is easily adjustable to the technology foreseen under the MASTERS project. AirMems is a member of the Elopsys cluster and its vision on the market needs is clearly an advantage for the proposed project. Moreover, the RF MEMS devices designed at Xlim and which are under industrialization at AirMems took off from the French Kourou Space Base on Thursday February 9th, 2014 into the Athena-Fidus satellite onboard of an Ariana V launcher. This project was supported by the CNES and coordinated by Thales Alenia Space. The MEMS devices onboard of the Athena-Fidus Satellite were reaching the orbit and their first long distance testing was successfully performed.