Ce présent travail de thèse porte sur l’étude du potentiel d’un traitement de surface par laser femtoseconde comme étape de substitution aux traitements réalisés actuellement lors de la métallisation de polymère. Pour cela, l’étude des modifications chimiques et morphologiques induites par traitement laser femtoseconde ainsi que leurs influences respectives sur les propriétés d’adhérences et de mouillabilités de la surface polypropylène sont présentées. Une revue bibliographique met en évidence la faisabilité d’une modification contrôlée de la surface du polypropylène après traitement laser femtoseconde. De plus, ces modifications engendrent une évolution démontrée des propriétés de mouillage qui peuvent répondre à certaines demandes industrielles. Après traitement laser femtoseconde, la surface traitée répond de différentes manières à la sollicitation en fonction de ses propriétés intrinsèques. Les expériences d’impacts localisés et de surfaces nous ont conduits à observer trois stades de modifications topographiques pour les conditions étudiées : un phénomène d’incubation, d’accumulation et d’ablation. Ce dernier a fait l’objet d’une étude plus approfondie. De manière générale, on observe deux régimes d’ablation linéaires pour l’ensemble des densités de puissance étudiées lorsque l’on étudie la profondeur d’ablation en fonction du nombre d’impulsion et le volume d’ablation en fonction de la densité de puissance cumulée. Enfin, nous montrons que les liaisons présentes en surface après traitement sont dépendantes de deux facteurs ; la densité de puissance cumulée utilisée et l’environnement de travail. Sachant que les modifications topographiques obtenues sont de types multi-échelles, les résultats ont été analysés sur la base des modèles de Wenzel (1936) et de Cassie-Baxter (1944) relatifs à la théorie du mouillage de surfaces rugueuses. Les résultats expérimentaux et leurs corrélations avec les paramètres de rugosités 3D calculés à différentes échelles ont été traités par une analyse statistique. On observe alors un comportement mixte avec un contact intime de la goutte sur les sommets des aspérités (modèle de Wenzel) et un contact hétérogène (airpolypropylène) à une échelle mésoscopique (état « fakir » décrit par le modèle de Cassie-Baxter). Toutefois, la situation où la goute repose sur le sommet des structures (CB) n’est pas toujours stable. Nous avons étudié la transition de l’état CB à l’état W par des expériences d’évaporation. On observe que cette transition est fortement dépendante de la chimie de surface dont la contribution est prépondérante sur les propriétés d’adhérence métal/PP. En contrôlant cette propriété, il est alors possible de répondre à une problématique industrielle de galvanoplastie (adhérence augmenté par le traitement laser) ou d’électroformage (adhérence faible permettant une réplication de bonne qualité des motifs). / This work presents the potential of a femtosecond laser surface treatment as an alternative step of pretreatments during the metallization of polymer. To do this, the study of chemical and morphological modification induced by femtosecond laser treatment and their respective influences on the properties of adhesion and wettability of polypropylene surface are presented. A literature review highlights the feasibility of a controlled surface modification after femtosecond laser treatment of polypropylene (PP). In addition, it is known that these modifications changes the wetting properties and can be used to meet industrial applications development. After femtosecond laser treatment, the treated surface responds to the solicitation with different morphological comportment according to its intrinsic properties. Experiences of localized impacts and surfaces us to observe three stages of topographic changes to the conditions studied: an incubation phenomenon of accumulation and ablation. The ablation phenomenon is further study. Generally, two linear ablation regime is observed for all power densities examined when considering the depth of ablation as a function of the pulse number and the ablation volume according to the accumulated power density. Finally, we show that the bonds present on the surface after treatment are dependent on two factors: the accumulated power density used and the working environment. Knowing that topographic obtained is multi-scales, the results were analyzed on the basis of models Wenzel (W)(1936) and Cassie–Baxter (CB) (1944) which explain the theory of wetting of rough surfaces. The experimental results and their correlations with 3D roughness parameters calculated at different scales were treated by statistical analysis. We observe a mixed model behavior with intimate contact of the drop on the tops of the asperities (Wenzel model) and a heterogeneous contact (air - PP) in a mesoscopic scale (state " fakir " described by the Cassie -Baxter model). However, this situation where the drop sits on the top of asperities (CB) is not always the most stable. We have studied the transition between the CB state and the W state by evaporation experiments. It is observed that this transition is strongly dependent on the surface chemistry whose contribution is much greater than the adhesion properties metal / PP. If controlling this property, it is possible to obtain two industrial applications: electroplating (increased adhesion by laser treatment) or electroforming (low adherence to replicate the topography).

This bachelor's thesis deals with problematics of technological procedures and techniques for modification of microelectrodes with nanostructures. Furthermore, it describes a device needed for automated production of nanosensors, their properties and communication with computer. These devices communicate through RS-232 and USB interfaces.

In fuel cells, stacks of several hundred bipolar plates are combined in membrane electrode assemblies, in which the electrochemical reactions take place. As a result, it must be possible to produce the bipolar plates cost-efficiently. In addition, the corrosion resistance in the surrounding medium and the electrical conductivity have to be sufficiently high. As stainless steels show passivation over time, more expensive materials, like graphite or noble-metal coatings, are used. This paper describes an alternative coating, which can fulfil the above-mentioned requirements. Using electroplating, Cr coatings with thicknesses > 20 µm can be deposited at low costs and REACH compliant. Subsequently, the Cr layers are gas nitrided resulting in a dense Cr-N coating with electrical and corrosion properties exceeding the ones of common stainless steels. Using this new approach, well-performing fuel cells could be produced cost-efficiently.

This thesis presents rubidium packaging methods for integration using anti-resonant reflecting optical waveguides (ARROWs) on a planar chip. The atomic vapor ARROW confines light through rubidium vapor, increases the light-vapor interaction length, decreases the size of the atomic cell to chip scales, and opens up possibilities for waveguide systems on chips for additional optoelectronic devices. Rubidium vapor packaging for long-life times are essential for realizing feasibly useful devices. Considerations of outgassing, leaking and chemical compatibilities of materials in rubidium vapor cells lead to an all-metal design. The effect of these characteristics on the rubidium D2 line spectra is considered.

Corrosion can cause devastating damage to materials, and to protect materials from corrosion is crucial, especially in the aeronautical industry. An electroplated Zinc-Nickel coating provides excellent corrosion protection of steel. Electroplating of ZnNi is a sensitive process which needs frequent and fast feedback controls and adjustments of the process electrolyte. A common process control for electroplating processes is the Hull cell test, which is investigated in this study. The Hull cell test is a lab scaled electroplating unit, which spans a wide range of current densities. It is crucial to establish the relation between process parameters in the Hull cell and the resulting coating characteristics in order to implement it as a process control. The purpose of this study is to establish these relations for the ZnNi electroplating process, and evaluate if the Hull cell test is a suitable process control for this process. How the process parameters; current density, temperature, metal ion concentration, and carbonate contaminations affect the coating characteristics; visual appearance, thickness, composition, surface structure, and phase content has been established. Influence on the coatings were mainly seen at current densities higher and lower than the ones used in production. This demonstrates the strength of the Hull cell test for early detection of process deviations. Coating thickness and composition was measured with X-ray fluorescence. However, the composition values for thin coatings were discovered to be inaccurate, which was avoided by increasing the plating time. Once addressed, the Hull cell test is suitable as a process control for the electroplating process of ZnNi.

The advent and proliferation of planar technologies for power converters are driven in part by the overall trends in analog and digital electronics. These trends coupled with the demands for increasingly higher power quality and tighter regulations raise various design challenges. Because inductors and transformers constitute a rather large part of the overall converter volume, size and performance improvement of these structures can subsequently enhance the capability of power converters to meet these application-driven demands. Increasing the switching frequency has been the traditional approach in reducing converter size and improving performance. However, the increase in switching frequency leads to increased power loss density in windings and core, with subsequent increase in device temperature, parasitics and electromagnetic radiation. An accurate set of reduced-order modeling methodologies is presented in this work in order to predict the high-frequency behavior of inductors and transformers. Analytical frequency-dependent expressions to predict losses in planar, foil windings and cores are given. The losses in the core and windings raise the temperature of the structure. In order to ensure temperature limitation of the structure is not exceeded, 1-D thermal modeling is undertaken. Based on the losses and temperature limitation, a methodology to optimize performance of magnetics is outlined. Both numerical and analytical means are employed in the extraction of transformer parasitics and cross-coupling. The results are compared against experimental measurements and are found to be in good accord. A simple near-field electromagnetic shield design is presented in order to mitigate the amount of radiation. Due to inadequacy of existing winding technology in forming suitable planar windings for PCB application, an alternate winding scheme is proposed which relies on depositing windings directly onto the core. / Master of Science

This thesis deals with the design of automated system of electroplating. The first part is centered on designing the technological process for this electroplating and the setout of operating vats. It also deals with the project of mechanical construction, electrical system, with the computing procedure and the optimum choice of gear for galvanic line model. The work includes the design of a DC motor controller, the computing procedure and the construction of heating element for vats heater simulation. The last part of this thesis offers an insight to the control system and the assembled program. In the addendum, the photo of the realized model, the wiring scheme, and the programme transcript for control galvanic line model can be found.

L'augmentation des températures de fonctionnement est une des évolutions actuelles de l'électronique de puissance. Ce fonctionnement entraine d’une part des changements de la structure des modules de puissance notamment des structures « 3D » pour assurer un refroidissement double face des composants de puissance, et d’autre part l’utilisation de matériaux qui permettent de réduire des contraintes thermomécaniques, liées à la différence de coefficient de dilatation des matériaux, lors d’une montée en température. Le travail réalisé au cours de cette thèse consiste à développer une nouvelle structure « 3D » basée sur une technique de contact par des micropoteaux en cuivre, élaborés par électrodéposition et ensuite assemblés à un substrat céramique métallisé (notamment, un DBC : Direct Bonding Copper). Pour réaliser ce contact, une technique de frittage par SPS (Spark Plasma Sintering) est utilisée. Nous étudions dans un premier temps le collage direct de cuivre sur des massifs, puis effectuons dans un deuxième temps le collage de cuivre entre les micropoteaux et le DBC. Cette technique SPS est aussi utilisée pour la réalisation d’un nouveau substrat céramique métallisé basé sur des matériaux avec des coefficients de dilatation thermique accordés, pour les applications à haute température. / The increase in operating temperature is one of the current trends in power electronics. This operation leads firstly to changes in the structure of power modules such as "3D" structures to provide a double-side cooling of power components, and secondly the use of materials that reduce thermomechanical stresses, related to the difference in coefficient of thermal expansion. The study realized during this thesis consisted in developing a new "3D" structure based on copper microposts prepared by electroplating, which are then assembled to a metallized ceramic substrate (eg, a DBC: Direct Bonding Copper). To realize this contact, a sintering machine (SPS: Spark Plasma Sintering) is used first to study the direct bonding of copper on solid, and second to perform the bonding between the copper microposts and the DBC. This technique is also used for the production of a new metallized ceramic substrate using materials with matching thermal expansion coefficients, for high temperature applications.

The goal of this project is to study novel nanoscale excitation volumes, sensitive enoughto study individual chromophores and go on to study new and exciting self assemblyapproaches to this problem. Small excitation volumes may be engineered using light con-finement inside apertures in metal films. These apertures enhance fluorescence emissionrates, quantum yields, decrease fluorescence quenching, enable higher signal-to-noiseratios and allow higher concentration single chromophore fluorescence, to be studied byrestricting this excitation volume. Excitation volumes are reported on using the chro-mophore's fluorescence by utilising fluorescence correlation spectroscopy, which monitorsfluctuations in fluorescence intensity. From the correlation in time, we can find the res-idence time, the number of chromophores, the volume in which they are diffusing andtherefore the fluorescence emission efficiency. Fluorescence properties are a probe ofthe local environment, a particularly powerful tool due to the high brightness (quantumyield) fluorescent dyes and sensitive photo-detection equipment both of which are readilyavailable, (such as avalanche photodiodes and photomultiplier tubes). Novel materialscombining the properties of conducting and non-conducting materials at scales muchsmaller than the incident wavelength are known as meta-materials. These allow combi-nations of properties not usually possible in natural materials at optical frequencies. Theproperties reported so far include; negative refraction, negative phase velocity, fluorescenceemission enhancement, lensing and therefore light confinement has also been proposed tobe possible. Instead of expensive and slow lithography methods many of these materialsmay be fabricated with self assembly techniques, which are truly nanoscopic and otherwiseinaccessible with even the most sophisticated equipment. It was found that nanoscaled volumes from ZMW and HMMs based on NW arrays wereall inefficient at enhancing fluorescence. The primary cause was the reduced fluorescencelifetime reducing the fluorescence efficiency, which runs contrary to some commentatorsin the literature. NW based lensing was found to possible in the blue region of the opticalspectrum in a HMM, without the background fluorescence normally associated with a PAAtemplate. This was achieved using a pseudo-ordered array of relatively large nanowireswith a period just smaller than lambda / 2 which minimised losses. Nanowires in the traditionalregime lambda / 10 produced significant scattering and lead to diffraction, such that they werewholly unsuitable for an optical lensing application.

Nous avons réalisé des couches minces de Co sur un substrat semi-conducteur (Si(111)) par voix électrochimique, en mode potentiostatique et en mode galvanostatique, et étudié leurs propriétés topographiques (AFM, MEB) et magnétique (RMN, effet Kerr, SQUID), afin de relier ces propriétés aux modes de croissance et aux conditions de dépôt à priori identiques conduisent à des morphologies et donc des propriétés magnétiques très différentes. Nous avons développé une approche rigoureuse avec un contrôle systématique de la qualité du substrat de départ pour clarifier les modes de nucléation et de croissance en fonction du potentiel appliqué en chronoampérométrie. Une transition d’un mode de nucléation instantanée vers un mode de nucléation progressive en fonction du potentiel appliqué est mise en évidence. La modélisation à l’aide du modèle de Scharifker-Hills des modes de nucléation et de croissance est cohérente avec les images de topographie AFM. La croissance est tridimensionnelle du type Volmer-Weber et l’aimantation est orientée dans le plan. Par RMN et également X-Ray Photoemission Spectroscopy (XPS), nous montrons qu’une couche d’hydroxyde de cobalt magnétiquement morte se forme à l’interface avec le Si. En mode galvanostatique, des grains avec des facettes parfaitement cristallisés présentent des domaines magnétiques localisés dans la plupart des ilots. Nous avons également effectué une étude très critique des techniques de dépôt/arrachage employées dans la littérature montrant que celle-ci sont inadaptées aux substrats semi-conducteur, un dépôt subsistant sur la surface quel que soit la technique d’arrachage choisie. / We have deposited thin layers of Co on a semiconductor substrate Si(111), by electrochemical method, in potentiostatic and galvanostatic mode, and we have studied their topographic properties (AFM, MEB) and magnetic (RMN, effet Kerr, SQUID). Thanks to these different techniques, we could relate these properties to the growth modes and to the a priori identical deposition conditions, which lead to different morphologies and therefore different magnetic properties. We have developed a rigorous approach with a systematic control of the quality of the substrate in order to clarify the nucleation and growth modes as a function of the potential applied in chronoamperometry. A transition from an instantaneous nucleation mode to a progressive nucleation mode as a function of the applied potential is highlighted. Modeling with Scharifker-Hills model of nucleation and growth modes is consistent with AFM topography images. The growth is three-dimensional of a Volmer-Weber type and the magnetization is oriented in the plane. By NMR and also X-Ray Photoemission Spectroscopy (XPS), we could show that a layer of magnetically dead cobalt hydroxide layer forms at the interface with Si. In galvanostatic mode, grains with perfectly crystallized facets have magnetic domains located in most of the islands. We have also carried out a very critical study of the deposition / tearing techniques used in the literature showing that they are unsuitable for semiconductor substrates, a deposit remaining on the surface whatever the tearing technique chosen.