The CEA is a major French research agency and its institute
IRIG is devoted to fundamental research in the Grenoble Minatec (minatec.org) area. The
European Synchrotron ESRF is an international research institute situated in Grenoble, which operates one of the most powerful synchrotron X-ray sources. It offers a highly dynamic, exciting, and multinational working environment in the French Alps. As part of a collaborative research project, we propose for the 2022-2023 academic year.
The subjet
Grenoble is considered the French Silicon Valley, where a plethora of research and innovation laboratories from academia and industry address a wide range of topics. For this internship, the strengths of two unique research facilities, the CEA-Grenoble and the ESRF [1], are combined to enable the next generation of semiconductor substrates. The CEA-Grenoble is a European leader in the field of micro- and nano-electronics. In particular, the SOITEC company is one of its spin-offs and is now the world-wide leader in advanced semiconductor substrates. The CEA-Grenoble hosts the LETI
[2] with its state-of-the-art clean room, and the IRIG
[3], a fundamental research institute where this internship is based. The ESRF has recently completed its Extreme Brilliant Source upgrade program, placing it at the forefront of the synchrotron radiation facilities. The ESRF hosts the Laue microdiffraction instrument (µLaue) on the French BM32 beamline, operated by the CEA-IRIG and CNRS. The µLaue is unique in Europe and is used probe crystalline materials by diffracting a polychromatic X-ray beam of a few hundred nanometers in diameter to measure the local crystal symmetry, orientation, strain and defects. Typical acquisitions are fast (below one second) and large area can be scanned, while external parameters can also be tuned (temperature, electric field…).
The topic of this materials science and data science Master internship is to study advanced semiconductor substrates obtained by direct bonding. Such substrates usually consist in a single-crystal thin-film, on top of single or poly-crystalline substrate. A typical material of interest is single-SiC on poly-SiC, where controlling the strain transfer from the poly-crystalline thick substrate to the single-crystal thin active layer is key to control the performances of the devices subsequently built on those substrates. The aim of the internship is thus to obtain maps of the crystal orientation and strain in the active layer, and correlate them to the underlying substrate. Datasets have already been acquired and now require in-depth analysis by the intern, using and adapting already existing analysis algorithms developed by our team, based on smart Laue diagram recognition and artificial intelligence (lauetools and lauetoolsNN). The intern will also participate in the development the next series of experiments and in the current “LaueMax” upgrade of the instrument.
The experimental work will be performed at the ESRF BM32 beamline, hosting the µLaue instrument, and the office will be located at CEA within the IRIG/MEM/NRS team. The candidate will interact with experimentalists of the BM32 team to learn the basics of µLaue and the use of the analysis tools developed in the laboratory. The candidate will apply this knowledge to the study of SiC substrates by analyzing previously acquired datasets, possibly developing new analysis procedures. The candidate will be involved in the upgrade of the instrument (LaueMax), and participate in some experiments depending on the availability of the instrument.
This work will benefit from the Extremely Brilliant Source (EBS) upgrade of the ESRF, recent fast pixel detector, and continuous development of the LaueTools program for diffraction pattern analysis. It will participate to two French ANR initiatives: MAGNIFIX (upgrade of the 5 French-CRG beamlines: optics and new setups) and DIADEME (French research priority program: automation, artificial intelligence). The student will belong to the CEA synchrotron X-ray team and will benefit from the French-CRG infrastructure.
The candidate should pursue a Master curriculum in Physics, Materials Science, Nanoscience, or closely related. In addition, the candidate should have an interest in the field of semiconductor physics. Skills in machine learning, image analysis and Python/Notebooks (programming language at ESRF) would be an asset. The following are also required:
· Motivation for experimental work, including data analysis;
· Ability to get to the heart of the problem and take it effectively through to completion;
· Self-motivation and initiative attitude;
· Good interpersonal, communication, and presentational skills;
· Good organizational and planning skills;
· Will to work as part of a multi-disciplinary team.
We expect the Master 2 internship to be followed by a PhD-thesis on the same subject (the detailed PhD subject is upon request).
The internship is expected to
start in spring 2023 for a minimum duration of four months (up to 6)
Interested applicants should submit:
- A 1-page letter stating motivations,
- A curriculum vitae, and
- Contact information for 2 references (reference letters are not required at this time) to
In the object of your application email, please include the reference “[M2-Application]” followed by your NAME and Surname.
Before the application deadline of
January 1st, 2023.