Acronyme du projet/ Acronym of the project

5.2.Objectifs du projet par rapport à l’état de l’art et liens avec la SNRI/ Objectives of the project compared to the state of the art and in relation to the SNRI

5.2.1Présentation scientifique du projet de recherche/ Scientific programme

In the following, we briefly describe the first scientific projects, defined on a basis of 2+2 years in the heart of the flagship domains (cf part 5.1). A more detailed description is given in annex 7.3.

Quantum and Spin-based nanoelectronics (leader: Frédéric Nguyen Van Dau, Thales RT)

Partners: 2 (D. Aniel, D. Bouchier, B. Dagens, P. Dollfus, J.O. Klein, D. Ravelosona); 3 (F. Glas, U. Gennser); 4 (V. Derycke, S. Palacin); 5 (C. Barreteau, H. Magnan, F. Silly, M. Viret); 6 (C. Gamrat); 8 (T. Mallah); 10 (F. Petroff); 11 (P. Allongue; J. Peretti); 13 (H.J. Drouhin); 14 (A. Thiaville); 21 (B. Dkhil); 23 (O. Temam); 24 (F. Nguyen Van Dau)




State of the art:

Spintronics is the research field underlying the 2007 Nobel Prize in Physics attributed to Albert Fert and Peter Grünberg, in which one develops electronic functions based on the electron spin, whereas classical electronics is based on the use of the electron charge. This domain was initiated by the discovery of several new physical effects such as giant magnetoresistance (GMR), spin dependent tunneling (TMR) and spin transfer.

Three large areas of application have been already impacted by the development of spintronics:

• The domain of the magnetic recording with the read heads of hard disks

• The magnetic sensors for applications in professional as well as consumer products.

• The electronic memories (MRAM)

Flagship project content with respect to nanoelectronic roadmap.

Current trends in the beyond CMOS domain:

The potential transition towards massively-parallel computing systems as well as new non-Von-Neumann paradigms, such as neuromorphic architectures, has a large potential impact. Intrinsic non-volatility of spintronics technologies is a significant advantage in terms of power consumption. The radiation hardness of spintronics metal-based technologies is also an advantage, in particular with respect to aerospace applications. Finally, the coupling of spin information with optics could open the way to its transmission by optical links.

Whereas five years ago, the nanoelectronic domain consisted in 7-8 emerging technologies (molecular electronics, spintronics, resonant tunnelling diodes, single electron electronics, rapid single flux quantum logic, wave interference devices, ...) being developed in parallel, there is a general trend to develop now hybrid approaches in order to try to take advantages of multifunctionality. This has led in particular to the development of molecular spintronics, spintronics with semi-conductors and spintronics using carbon-based materials (carbon nanotubes, graphene).

Benchmarks:

The US Nanoelectronics Research Initiative¹¹ is a consortium of companies in the Semiconductor Industry Association, which seeks to demonstrate novel computing devices capable of replacing the CMOS transistor as a logic switch in the 2020 timeframe. Below are some of the projects co-funded by NRI and the National Science Foundation in 2009:

• 
  Spin-Oscillators for Non-Charge Based Ultra Low Power Logic and Comm. (UC-Berkeley NSEC)
  
• 
  Reconfigurable Array Magnetic Automata (MIT MRSEC)
  
• 
  Generating, Probing, and Manipulating Excitons in Carbon Nanomaterials (Northwestern MRSEC)
  
• 
  Direct-Write Synthesis of Graphene Devices (Brown MRSEC)
  
• 
  Spintronic Logic Devices (Univ. of Alabama MRSEC)
  
• 
  Exploration of Novel All-Spin Logic (ASPL) for Device-Circuit-Architecture (Purdue NCN)
  

The vision for the Systems of Neuromorphic Adaptive Plastic Scalable Electronics (SyNAPSE) program funded by DARPA (approx. 10 M$) is to develop electronic neuromorphic machine technology that scales to biological levels.¹²

Scientific Objectives

A strategic analysis of the present and near future situation in the nanoelectronics domain, based on both scientific and technical literature and international roadmaps (see for example ITRS¹³) leads to the following statements:

• 
  Circuit heat generation is the main limiting factor for scaling of device speed and switch circuit density
  
• 
  Scaling to molecular dimensions may not yield performance increase, as we might be forced to trade-off between speed and density
  
• 
  Optimal dimensions for electronic switches should range between 5 and 50 nm
  
• 
  The development of a massively parallel computing architecture is mandatory
  

From these considerations, it becomes clear that the main scientific and technological challenge in this domain can be summarized as follows: we need novel device concept and/or computation architecture to enable a novel scaling path.

Around this central goal, we have identified four strategic approaches, on which we intend to focus funding at least during the first four years of the project. The selection criteria of these approaches are based on their potential to address at least one of the two following key objectives: (1) drastically reduce power consumption; (2) demonstrate new device concept and/or computation architecture

• 
  A new paradigm in nanodesign: memristors (leader: J. Grollier; Partner 10; board: O. Temam, J-O. Klein, V. Derycke))
  

Memristive devices are ideally compatible with the dense and efficient implementation of several alternative computing approaches, such as reconfigurable circuits, and neuromorphic circuits. Memristors can for example implement the possibility to store information (memory), but also to dynamically modify this information according to the inputs (artificial synapses). The project plans to develop new nanocomponents and use their characteristics to explore circuit and architecture designs in simple proof-of-concept prototypes.

• 
  Towards Ultra Low power spintronic nanodevices (leader : D. Ravelosona, Partner 2; board : A. Barthélémy, M. Viret, A. Thiaville)
  

Until now, spintronics devices are relied on magnetic fields and currents, which still generate relatively high dissipation. We propose to develop new routes for electric field control of nanomagnetic systems to provide the scientific underpinnings of next generation energy efficient, ultrafast and ultrasmall magneto-electronic devices based on oxydes and Electrolyte/ferromagnetic hybrid systems. We will focus on the local electric field effects on magnetic properties and the combination of electric field and spin current driven effects to reach ultra low power consumption.

• 
  Molecular spintronics (leader : Talal Mallah, Partner 8; board: P. Sénéor, F. Silly, U. Gennser)
  

In order to gain insight into the molecular level mechanisms determinant for the adaptability of spintronic devices to semi-conductors, the control of the polarization in TMR devices and the monitoring of spin transport, we propose to develop a “spin-based molecular engineering” approach to (i) understand the basis of the spin-dependent transport in molecular (organic and metallo-organic) systems from thin films to single molecules, and (ii) control of the spin state of a single molecule and the manipulation of the spin injection in “smart spinterface” devices within 4 years, in a fully multidisciplinary approach.

• 
  Charge based nanoelectronics (leader : Dominique Mailly, Partner 3; board : L. Reining, P. Dollfus, C. Cojocaru)
  

SiGe/Si core/shell nanowire (NW) devices will be synthesized and used both for studying one-dimensional (1D) physics and build up future generation MOSFETs providing better channel control and hole mobility. Substantial increases in mobility could be achieved in modulation-doped core–shell structures in which, for example, a layer of i-Si separates the i-Ge core from a high-densitydopant layer. We will also emphasize on the control of the growth of graphene on large area compatible with an effective fabrication of devices using CVD and epitaxial growths. This approach will be strongly connected with simulations provided by partner 13 (ETSF, www.etsf.eu)

Added value of the labex for this flagship project:

These four strategic approaches have been selected for their potential to generate innovation on one hand, and because they represent domains in which the complementarities of expertise coming from the different partners can be exploited to reach a world class impact. For two of them, namely “Nanodesign” and “Molecular spintronics”, there is a high level of interdisciplinarity. It is difficult to attract funding from conventional agencies in the initial stages of such approaches, and we thus intend to use the labex funding to allow the partners to reach the credibility threshold. For the two other approaches, the main interest of bringing together these competencies is to allow reaching the necessary critical mass needed by the high ambition of their objectives in terms of impact. In this case, funding will be essentially used in order to consolidate this critical mass.

Each of these four strategic approaches is expected to deliver complementary building block technological solutions on the route towards one single challenge: “need of a novel device concept and/or computation architecture to enable a novel scaling path”. During the lifetime of the labex project, we intend to monitor the orientations of these approaches, eventually inject new ones in order to ensure that our common challenge is adequately addressed. On another hand, for building block solutions that would appear to reach a sufficient maturity level, we will systematically team up with System-X IRT, other laboratories and companies for larger scale prototyping and integration.

Nano-drugs for severe diseases (leader: Patrick Couvreur, PCPB/Univ. Paris 11)

Partners: 2 (J.M. Lourtioz, N. Hildebrandt); 3 (A.M. Haghiri-Gosnet); 4 (J. Daillant, S. Palacin); 7 (P. Couvreur, M. Taverna); 14 (J. Doucet); 22 (C. Serre)

STATE OF THE ART

Although the introduction of nanotechnology in pharmacology (“nanomedicine”) has revolutionized the delivery of drugs, allowing the emergence of new treatments with improved specificity, currently available nanomedicines have not been able to improve the activity of a large number of drugs used to fight cancer, infections or metabolic disorders. These failures are due to:

• 
  Poor drug loading (usually less than 5 weight %).
  
• 
  The “burst release” of the encapsulated drug after administration.
  
• 
  The lack of immunogenicity, biodegradability and low toxicity of the carrier materials.
  

There is, therefore, an urgent need for better and safer (bio)materials for drug targeting purposes. The aim of the project B of the labEX is to address those issues by developing two breakthrough original nanotechnologies:

1. 
   The concept of “terpenoylation” (NanoTerpenes) (invented and patented by partner 7): a biologically active drug molecule is chemically linked to a natural terpene in order to allow the resulting bioconjugate to self-assemble as nanoparticles in water. The pro-drug will form the nanomedicine by self-aggregation without the need of any other transporter material. Part of this research already benefits from an ERC Advanced Grant (P. Couvreur, partner 7).
   
2. 
   The design of nanoparticles constructed with metal-organic-frameworks (nanoMOFs) (conceived and patented by partners 7 and 22). Designed with non toxic iron carboxylates, these nanodevices possess pore sizes which can be perfectly adapted to the invited drug molecule, resulting in high payload. Combining bioactivity with imaging in nanoMOFs also leads to the exciting possibility of MOF-based “theranostics” (ie. nanoparticles combining therapeutic and imaging properties). Part of this research already benefits from an ERC Starting Grant (C. Serre, partner 22).
   

The research project will gather biologists, chemists, physico-chemists and nanofabrication engineers in a fully multidisciplinary approach that will definitely improve the two existing ERC projects. The current project should accelerate the discovery of safer and more efficient nanomedicines able to fight severe diseases, such as cancers and infections. It addresses a clear medical need and proposes a new research strategy in the general context of a significant decrease in the discovery of new drugs by the pharmaceutical industry. It is expected that our project will be able to translate research concepts into drug candidates for phase I clinical trials.
The scientific programme is divided in 3 parts:

1°/ The “terpenoylation” for the design of new nanomedicines

Partner 7 very recently demonstrated that squalene-based nanomedicines may be used for drug delivery and targeting purposes.¹⁴ The squalenoyl-gemcitabine bioconjugate (SQgem) spontaneously self-assembled in water as nanoparticles with remarkably high drug loadings (50% w/w) that exhibited impressively greater anticancer activity than.¹⁵ Interestingly, it was observed that the squalenoyl-gemcitabine nanoparticles had also an impressive activity on drug resistant cancer cells.¹⁶

The current proposal intends to enlarge this new and ground-breaking concept: (i) to other drug molecules and macromolecules (ii) by varying the nature of the polyterpene used for the drug conjugation and (iii) by giving the resulting nano-assemblies specific properties to promote more efficient targeting towards the lesion. The expected results are: (i) a knowledge of a structure/activity relationships which will allow to identify the conditions for the bioconjugates to self-organize as nanoassemblies, depending on the nature of the drug/polyterpene pair, (ii) the design of new nanomedicines with high drug loading and absence of “burst” release and (iii) a universal platform for the discovery of new nanomedicines.

2°/ The design of nanoparticles constructed with metal-organic-frameworks (nanoMOFs)

In a very recent publication,¹⁷ partners 7 and 22 demonstrated that porous hybrid solids made of iron(III)- metal–organic frameworks¹⁸ may be formulated as nanocarriers with high drug loading and imaging properties. The nature of the dicarboxylic acid may tune pore size and material flexibility for better drug encapsulation. In vitro and in vivo toxicological studies carried out with various iron carboxylate nanoparticles indicated excellent biocompatibility of these nanoMOFs after unique or repeated intravenous administration.

Our project intends to develop the application of these new nanomaterials in two different directions: (i) the encapsulation of very hydrophilic molecules (ie. AZT-triphosphate, gemcitabine-triphosphate, cytarabinetriphosphate etc.) which failed to have acceptable payload into the usually employed polymer nanoparticles (ie.polylactic-co-glycolic, polyalkylcyanoacrylate etc.) and (ii) the encapsulation of poorly soluble compounds (in water or in organic solvents), like the anticancer drug busulfan, whom encapsulation in nanoparticles or liposomes is very challenging due to the dramatic tendency of this compound to crystallize. The surface functionalization of these drug loaded nanoMOFs will be further performed in order to control the drug release kinetic as well as the drug biodistribution.

3°/ Nanotoxicology

Special attention will be paid to the safety of both nanoterpenes and nanoMOFs. In this view, both in vitro and in vivo explorations will be performed with special attention to hepatic and pulmonary tissues because they are the more exposed tissues after intravenous or pulmonary administration of nanoparticles. Other organs, like the heart, will be investigated when they represent major toxicity target of the carried drug, as it is especially the case with doxorubicin.

4°/ Conclusion

The current research project takes advantage of two novel and exciting nanomaterials (ie. nanoterpenes and nanoMOFs) to discover new and more efficient nanomedicines. Based on a multidisciplinary approach, including bioconjugate chemistry, physico-chemistry of supramolecular assemblies, drug delivery, cellular and molecular biology as well as experimental pharmacology, this proposal may led to improved treatments of severe diseases (cancer, infections), especially when they are resistant to current chemotherapy. It is expected that our project will be able to translate research concepts into drug candidates for phase I clinical trials.

Nanophotonics: Nano-objects for energy control (leader: Jean-Jacques Greffet, LCFIO/IOGS)

Partners 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 19, 20, 22, 24

State of the art

In the late eighties and nineties several new topics have emerged: near-field optics and plasmonics, photonic crystals, optoelectronics at the nanoscale including (semiconductor) quantum dots and quantum wells. Simultaneously, microfabrication techniques primarily developed for microelectronics have entered the nanoscale domain and chemists developed techniques to reliably control the fabrication of nanoobjects. These fields have now merged into a new discipline called nano-optics or nanophotonics. This new field results from the convergence of traditional topics such as quantum optics, near-field optics and optoelectronics, and it relies critically on nanofabrication, nanochemistry and material sciences. It offers a wealth of opportunities for fundamental research (new interaction mechanisms between light and matter at the nanoscale, quantum optics with solid state devices, Quantum Information Processing and Computing, or QIPC,) and mid-term or even short-term applications (imaging and object manipulation at the molecular level, photovoltaics, telecom devices, semiconductor nanophotonics, biophotonics).

The impact of nanophotonics is already a reality: low energy consumption light sources, remarkable improvement of solar cells efficiency, ultrasensitive sensing techniques such as the pregnancy test already on the market, optoelectronic devices for telecommunications. Yet, the exploration of the fundamental interactions between light and matter at the nanoscale is still in its infancy, so that many new applications are expected. Nanophotonics has been selected as one of our flagship domains because i) it has a large innovation/intellectual property potential, spanning from the domain of information and communication to the emerging domains of bio-medical imaging and diagnosis, sensors and renewable energies, ii) the Nano-Saclay community is one of the largest academic community worldwide, covering all aspects of the topic, iii) the Labex is an excellent opportunity to join efforts and expertise of scientists from different fields in order to address key challenges in nanophotonics with a multidisciplinary approach. The project has strong links with the TEMPOS and the STRAS Equipex project.


SCientific objectives

The interaction between a single atom and a photon in a microcavity is a paradigm of quantum optics. It allows one to obtain a perfect control of the interaction between light and matter. Yet, this control can be achieved only for ideal quantum systems. In order to take full advantage of this control to design light sources, detectors and non-linear devices for information processing, the development of solid state analogs of the ideal atom-photon microcavity is a requirement. When developing solid state objects at the nanoscale, one of the obvious practical issues is their manipulation and positioning. Whereas microobjects or atoms can be manipulated with optical tweezers, there is no simple technique to manipulate nano-objects. This analysis leads to three research directions:

- Solid-state nano-objects for light-matter interaction control in the quantum optics limit,

- Plasmonics as a tool for light-matter interaction control,

- Nano-object manipulation.

Few photon optics (Leader Paul Voisin, LPN; Board: JC Harmand, JP Hermier, A. Loiseau, S. Sauvage) Few-photon optics is becoming a new paradigm. Sub-wavelength optical resonators using advanced processing of photonic crystal structures are intensively studied worldwide with perspectives such as optical functions with extremely low power, giant enhancement of optical non-linearities, integrated optics using a single processing technology. Non-linear effects with only two photons are within reach. The project will develop new nanosources (color centers in nanodiamond and new, non-blinking core-shell colloidal nanocrystals, semiconductor carbon nanotubes…), nanowires (single photon emission from a quantum dot in a nanowire, growth of III-V nanowires on Si, with coupling to a SOI planar waveguide…) and ultimate nonlinearities. Our goals include i) < 5 photon bistability, ii) superfluid propagation and interferometry of polariton condensates at the fundamental level, low noise ultracompact Si Raman laser or III-V-based ultrafast optical gates).

Plasmonics (Leader : Raffaele Colombelli, IEF; Board: P. Lalanne, JJ Greffet, O. Stephan)

Plasmonics offers new avenues to control light-matter interaction at the nanometer scale. Despite a tremendous amount of work reported in the last ten years, several challenges are still unresolved. Surface plasmon quantum optics is still in its infancy despite demonstrations of conversions of single photons in single plasmons.¹⁹ We expect to demonstrate anti-bunching between single surface-plasmons propagating along a surface within 2 years. A second challenge is the electrical generation/amplification of surface plasmons. While gain for surface plasmons and lasing has been demonstrated very recently,²⁰ the electrical generation and amplification of surface plasmons is still a challenge. Surface plasmon lasing with electrical gain is in particular a major issue. The interplay between electrical gain in metallic structures and losses in metamaterials is of particular practical importance. Electrical or optical pumping will be used to reach efficient surface plasmon amplification. Finally, a remarkable playground for plasmonics is resonators/antennas which have the ability to substantially enhance light-matter interaction. This has potential applications for solar energy production²¹ and biosensing²² where the challenge is to reduce as much as possible the amount of absorbing material. This particular topic has a lot of potential for innovation.

Nano-object optical manipulation (leader: Fabrice Charra, CEA; Board: G. Dujardin, R. Kuszelewicz, K. Nakatani)

Trapping, moving or actuating nanoscale systems is a key technology for both fundamental and applied research. Steering and monitoring matter at the nanoscale requires the knowledge of physicists, chemists and biologists. Applications span from the mainstream of manufacturing to diagnostics, therapeutics, or trace-sensitive sensors, as well as ultimate information technologies. This is achieved currently by optical tweezers. They constitute an indispensable tool in biology, physical chemistry and soft-matter physics.²³ Yet, they are limited to objects with a size on the order of hundreds of nanometers. A key challenge is to develop a new generation of optical traps in order to be able to manipulate at the nanoscale individual objects with sizes down to the single molecule.

Progress towards the optical manipulation of ever smaller objects requires both new concepts of optical manipulation and the corresponding enabling technologies. Yet, several recent scientific advances open highly promising opportunities in two directions. Firstly, the large gradients in intensity of light associated with plasmonic modes have been exploited for nano-manipulation. Demonstrations are based on specific designs of tweezers²⁴ substrates,²⁵ or of the target object itself.²⁶ Even higher confinements have been predicted, e.g. through the nonlinear response of molecular solitons. Optimized specifically-designed plasmonic nano-structures will be combined with nonlinearly-responsive molecular architectures to improve the local control. Such systems will form the nano-positioned trapping device itself. They may also be used in conjunction with nanostructured substrates exploiting e.g. electrostatic forces.²⁷ Secondly, highly efficient molecular photo-switches have been shown to be able to act as optically-fueled molecular-scale motors. Associated with liquid crystals, they are able to rotate large objects.²⁸ Similarly, functionalization with photo-isomerizing azo molecular moieties has been demonstrated to be at the origin of photoinduced mass transport. Such systems are able to convert light energy into mechanical work much more efficiently than the radiation pressure, at play in conventional optical tweezers, does. Control of the nano-object position will be achieved by functionalization with photo-isomerizing azo molecular moieties. Simultaneously, we will evaluate the potential of light-controlled forces on spin-transition molecular magnets. Moreover, the concept will be extended from surfaces to bulk media.

To deal with these challenges, the NanoSaclay LabEx gathers 55 highly qualified researchers among several groups of the NanoSaclay lab. They have already co-authored 76 papers cited more than 100 times in the field. A key feature of the task force is the blend of experts in nanofabrication, physicists, and chemists. Another key feature is the strong interaction of teaching and innovation in the project. The members of the task force have filed 30 patents since 2006 and co-founded 3 start-ups. Researchers working in the companies Thales, Genewave and 3-5 are involved in the project.