IRP 2 : Thin Films engineering

Nano-composites, 3D structures, stacks of different layers, multilayers are developped to face the physical and chemical limits of standard materials in advanced applications. This advanced engineering will be carried out either through the modification of surface properties (surface functionalization) or through the building of complex thin films (e.g. nanocomposites) along 3 main axes of research :

• IRP 2-1. Surface functionalization by wet chemistry
• IRP 2-2. Multiferroic nanocomposites
• IRP 2-3. 3D nanocomposite thin films

The fundamental issues raised in the above programs are :

1. surface characterization control and eventually functionalization,
2. investigation of mechanics (specifically strain tolerance and tailorable coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE)) and stability of stack materials interfaces,
3. multiscale modeling strategies both in the material design and the associated fabrication processes to develop,
4. understanding of coupling mechanism.