Réalisées au début du processus de fabrication des circuits intégrés, les tranchées d'isolation permettent d'éviter les fuites de courant latérales qui pourraient avoir lieu entre les transistors. Les tranchées sont remplies par un film d'oxyde de silicium réalisé par des procédés de dépôt chimiques en phase vapeur (aussi appelés CVD). Le remplissage des tranchées est couramment réalisé par un procédé CVD à pression sub-atmosphérique (SACVD TEOS/O3). Cependant, la capacité de remplissage de ce procédé pour les nœuds technologiques CMOS 28 nm et inférieurs est dégradée à cause de profils trop verticaux dans les tranchées. Cela induit la formation de cavités dans l'oxyde et entraine des courts-circuits. Afin de pallier ce problème, une nouvelle stratégie de remplissage en trois étapes est proposée pour la technologie CMOS 14 nm. Dans la première étape, un film mince d'oxyde est déposé dans les tranchées. Puis, dans la deuxième étape, les flancs du film sont gravés à l'aide d'un procédé de gravure innovant, basé sur un plasma délocalisé de NF3/NH3, permettant de créer une pente favorable au remplissage final réalisé au cours de la troisième étape. Le développement de cette nouvelle stratégie de remplissage s'est déroulé selon plusieurs axes. Tout d'abord, le procédé de dépôt a été caractérisé afin de sélectionner les conditions optimales pour la première étape de la stratégie. Puis, le procédé de gravure innovant a été caractérisé en détail. L'influence des paramètres de gravure a été étudiée sur pleine plaque et sur plaques avec motifs afin de comprendre les mécanismes de gravure et de changement de pente dans les tranchées. Enfin, dans un troisième temps, la stratégie de remplissage a été développée et intégrée pour la technologie CMOS 14 nm. Nous montrons ainsi qu'il est possible de contrôler le changement de pente avec les conditions de gravure et que cette stratégie permet un remplissage des tranchées d'isolation sans cavités. / Achieved at the beginning of the integrated circuits manufacturing, shallow trench isolation permits to electrically isolate transistors from each other's to avoid current leakage. Trenches are filled with silicon dioxide film deposited by chemical vapor deposition (also called CVD). Trenches gap-filling is usually performed by TEOS/O3 Sub-Atmospheric Chemical Vapor Deposition (TEOS/O3 SACVD). However, trenches gap-filling with SACVD process reveals some limitations for advanced technology nodes (mainly 28 nm & 14 nm) due to quasi-vertical trenches profile and slope sensitivity of SACVD, which can lead to voids formation in gap-filling oxide and consequently to electrical isolation failure. To solve this issue, a new three steps gap-fill strategy is proposed for the CMOS 14 nm technology node. During the first step, a thin oxide liner is deposited into trenches. Then, in the second step, film sidewalls are etched with an innovative process, based on downstream plasma of NF3/NH3, to create tapered profile favorable for final SACVD gap-fill achieved in the third step. The development of this strategy has followed three work leads. First, the deposition process has been characterized to select best conditions for the first step. Then, the innovative etching process has been widely characterized. The influence of etching parameters has been studied on blanket and patterned wafers to understand etching mechanisms and slope modification. Finally, the gap-fill strategy has been developed and integrated for the CMOS 14 nm technology node. We demonstrate that it is possible to control the slope modification by tuning etching conditions and that strategy allows a void-free trenches filling.

Depuis la première observation du phénomène de Diffusion Raman Exaltée de Surface (DRES) en 1974 de nombreuses méthodes ont été développées pour contrôler l'arrangement de nanostructures métalliques sur une surface dans le but d'augmenter le signal de diffusion Raman. La valeur du facteur d'amplification de la DRES résulte principalement de l’accroissement localisé du champ électromagnétique pour des surfaces métalliques nanostructurées. Des études antérieures ont révélé que l'espacement nanométrique entre les nanoparticules constituait des zones de forte exaltation appelées «points chauds». Nous avons développé et breveté une méthode de lithographique assistée par AFM permettant la fabrication de surfaces métalliques. Il a été démontré que cette méthode fournissait une approche relativement simple pour réaliser d’une part des surfaces reproductibles à géométrie contrôlée à l’échelle nanométrique, et d’autre part des surfaces modèles pour étudier l'influence de la géométrie des motifs sur l'effet DRES. Afin d'étudier la relation entre les propriétés optiques et la géométrie de nos systèmes la résonance plasmon localisée de surface (LSPR) et le facteur d'exaltation du champ électrique local ont été simulés par éléments finis. Les zones de forte exaltations ont été localisées sur les nanostructures par microscopie par photoémission d'électrons (PEEM) et l'effet DRES a été démontré en effectuant des mesures Raman avec plusieurs molécules cibles. Les corrélations effectuées entre les résultats de PEEM, les calculs du champ local et les facteurs d’exaltation Raman seront présentées en lien avec les paramètres géométriques des motifs de nanostructures. / Since the first observation of Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS) in 1974 a variety of methods have been developed to physically control the arrangement of metallic nanostructures onto a surface in order to enhance Raman signals. The magnitude of the SERS enhancement factor is mainly driven by the enhanced local electromagnetic field in nanostructured metal surfaces. Gaps between adjacent nanoparticles give rise to strong enhancement effects, often referred as ‘hot spots’. One way to produce highly efficient SERS substrates is to develop a reproducible system of interacting metal nanostructures capable of high field enhancement.We patented a force-assisted Atomic Force Microscopy lithographic method allowing the fabrication of a metallic substrate. It will be shown that this method also provides a relatively simple approach to realize reproducible patterns with controlled geometry that can be used to study the influence of specific pattern geometry on SERS phenomenon.In order to investigate the relationship between optical properties and pattern geometries, localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) and local electric field enhancement are simulated.Whereas electric field enhancement regions (hot spot) have been observed on the top of the nanostructures with PhotoEmission Electron Microscopy (PEEM), SERS effect has been demonstrated by performing Raman measurements using several probe molecules. Correlations between PEEM measurements, Raman exaltation and local field calculations are presented in relation with the geometrical parameters of the nanostructured patterns.

Neste trabalho, são discutidas as características de transistores de filmes finos (TFTs) nos quais nanopartículas de óxido de zinco (ZnO) são empregadas como material ativo na camada semicondutora. O crescimento contínuo do interesse por este componente está associado à busca pelo desenvolvimento da tecnologia de dispositivos eletrônicos flexíveis, transparentes e de baixo custo. TFTs integrados com nanopartículas de ZnO são apresentados, e uma extensa rotina de caracterização elétrica transiente é realizada para avaliar como estes dispositivos se comportam e degradam ao longo do tempo. Foram medidas, ao total, 80 amostras de transistores integrados em duas configurações distintas: inverted staggered e inverted coplanar. A partir das medidas analisadas foram identificados dois grupos de comportamentos elétricos dominantes, os quais foram classificados em: efeitos abruptos e efeitos de memória. A partir dos dados coletados, foram formuladas hipóteses para modelar o comportamento típico observado. Para tanto, utiliza-se dos mecanismos de atividade de traps, de interação da camada semicondutora com o meio ambiente, de polarização de dipolos e difusão de cargas móveis no dielétrico, de formação de caminhos percolados paralelos pelas nanopartículas e de difusão de vacâncias de oxigênio e íons metálicos que podem estar associados ao comportamento elétrico observado. / In this work, the characteristics of thin-film transistors (TFTs) employing nanoparticulated zinc oxide (ZnO) as the active semiconductor channel layer are discussed. The growing interest in this component is associated to the development of low-cost, flexible and transparent electronic devices. The TFTs integrated with ZnO nanoparticles are presented and an extensive transient electrical characterization campaign was performed in order to evaluate how these devices behave and degrade over time. The measurement was performed for 80 samples of two different integration setups: inverted staggered and inverted coplanar. In the performed tests two main disturbances were identified, which were classified as abrupt and memory effects. From the collected data, hypothesis to model the observed typical behavior are formulated. Trapping activity, ambient interaction, dielectric dipoles, mobile charges, formed parallel-paths, oxygen vacancies and metallic ions diffusion are mechanisms that may be associated to the observed behavior.

abstract: ABSTRACT This work seeks to develop a practical solution for short range ultrasonic communications and produce an integrated array of acoustic transmitters on a flexible substrate. This is done using flexible thin film transistor (TFT) and micro electromechanical systems (MEMS). The goal is to develop a flexible system capable of communicating in the ultrasonic frequency range at a distance of 10 - 100 meters. This requires a great deal of innovation on the part of the FDC team developing the TFT driving circuitry and the MEMS team adapting the technology for fabrication on a flexible substrate. The technologies required for this research are independently developed. The TFT development is driven primarily by research into flexible displays. The MEMS development is driving by research in biosensors and micro actuators. This project involves the integration of TFT flexible circuit capabilities with MEMS micro actuators in the novel area of flexible acoustic transmitter arrays. This thesis focuses on the design, testing and analysis of the circuit components required for this project. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.S. Electrical Engineering 2012

abstract: This work explores how flexible electronics and display technology can be applied to develop new biomedical devices for medical, biological, and life science applications. It demonstrates how new biomedical devices can be manufactured by only modifying or personalizing the upper layers of a conventional thin film transistor (TFT) display process. This personalization was applied first to develop and demonstrate the world's largest flexible digital x-ray detector for medical and industrial imaging, and the world's first flexible ISFET pH biosensor using TFT technology. These new, flexible, digital x-ray detectors are more durable than conventional glass substrate x-ray detectors, and also can conform to the surface of the object being imaged. The new flexible ISFET pH biosensors are >10X less expensive to manufacture than comparable CMOS-based ISFETs and provide a sensing area that is orders of magnitude larger than CMOS-based ISFETs. This allows for easier integration with area intensive chemical and biological recognition material as well as allow for a larger number of unique recognition sites for low cost multiple disease and pathogen detection. The flexible x-ray detector technology was then extended to demonstrate the viability of a new technique to seamlessly combine multiple smaller flexible x-ray detectors into a single very large, ultimately human sized, composite x-ray detector for new medical imaging applications such as single-exposure, low-dose, full-body digital radiography. Also explored, is a new approach to increase the sensitivity of digital x-ray detectors by selectively disabling rows in the active matrix array that are not part of the imaged region. It was then shown how high-resolution, flexible, organic light-emitting diode display (OLED) technology can be used to selectively stimulate and/or silence small groups of neurons on the cortical surface or within the deep brain as a potential new tool to diagnose and treat, as well as understand, neurological diseases and conditions. This work also explored the viability of a new miniaturized high sensitivity fluorescence measurement-based lab-on-a-chip optical biosensor using OLED display and a-Si:H PiN photodiode active matrix array technology for point-of-care diagnosis of multiple disease or pathogen biomarkers in a low cost disposable configuration. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Electrical Engineering 2014

Neste trabalho, se pretende caracterizar a morfologia de filmes finos poliméricos por meio de técnicas de processamento de imagens, utilizando principalmente a geometria computacional e técnicas de classificação de padrões. Os objetivos principais foram quantificar as grandezas geométricas das estruturas observadas nos filmes finos e descrever padrões de superfície formados nestes filmes. Foram estudadas imagens obtidas por microscopia de força atômica (AFM) de amostras de filmes finos SEBS [poliestireno-poli(etileno-co-butileno)-poliestireno], depositados sobre um substrato de mica por técnicas de imersão. Os filmes finos SEBS são considerados de grande interesse devido à formação de estruturas auto-organizadas na escala nanométrica. A caracterização e a obtenção da morfometria dos filmes são de relevância neste trabalho, pois contribuem para o entendimento da dinâmica de formação destes padrões nas nanoestruturas estudadas. Foram analisadas diferentes morfologias, como forma de gotículas com anéis concêntricos e forma de tiras e pontos regularmente espaçados. Os resultados obtidos permitem caracterizar os padrões observados. / In this work, we intend to characterize the morphology of polymer thin films by techniques of image processing, mainly using computational geometry and pattern classification. The main objectives were to quantify the geometrical structures observed in thin films and describe surface patterns formed in these films. Were studied images obtained by atomic force microscopy (AFM) of SEBS [polystyrene-poly(ethylene-co-butylene)-polystyrene] thin films samples, deposited on a mica substrate by dip-coating technique . SEBS thin film polymers have great interest due to the formation of self-organized structures on the nanometer scale. The characterization and obtaining measurements of the morphology of the thin films are of relevance in this work, because they contribute to the understanding of the formation dynamics of these patterns in nanostructures studied. We analyzed different morphologies, such as droplets form with concentric rings and stripe and regularly spaced points forms. The results allow to characterize the observed patterns.

Orientadores: Richard Landers, Abner de Siervo / Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Fisica Gleb Wataghin / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-14T22:49:38Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Pancotti_Alexandre_D.pdf: 18876572 bytes, checksum: 607e084dcdd143737b311eaaf705dc73 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009 / Resumo: Este trabalho apresenta um estudo sobre a estrutura atômica da superfície de dois materiais com potencial para suportar nano partículas metálicas num catalisador modelo, o primeiro, Óxido de Cromo é um suporte usado comercialmente, e o segundo, SrTiO3(100) (STO) tem a característica interessante de induzir o crescimento de nano partículas de alguns metais com formatos definidos pelo tipo de tratamento térmico que o suporte recebeu. O Óxido de cromo estava na forma de filmes ordenados crescidos epitaxialmente sobre um cristal de Pd(111) enquanto que o SrTiO3 consistia de cristal dopado com Nb cortado segundo a face (100). Os filmes de óxido de cromo sobre Pd(111) foram crescidos "in-situ" na câmara de análises pela deposição de cromo metálico numa atmosfera de oxigênio (1,0.10-6 mBar) sobre o substrato aquecido (623K) o que produziu filmes com boa cristalinidade e estequiometria. Foram estudados filmes com duas estruturas diferentes: óxido de cromo com 3.5 Å de espessura que apresentava uma reconstrução tipo p(2x2) e um filme mais espesso com 12.0 Å que mostrava uma reconstrução (V3xV3)R30o, ambos determinados por LEED (Low Energy Electron Diffraction). A composição e a estrutura atômica foram determinadas por XPS (X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy) e XPD (X-Ray Photoelectron Diffraction), respectivamente. Titanato de Estrôncio, SrTiO3 normalmente é um material isolante, mas a adição de Nb como dopante o transformou em um material suficientemente condutor para permitir o uso das mesmas técnicas para o estudo da estrutura atômica e composição de sua superfície. Nestes estudos foram utilizados como fontes de excitação radiação Síncrotron de 700 eV de energia da linha SGM do Laboratório Nacional de Luz Síncrotron e fontes convencionais de raios-X (Al, Mg) Ka. Para o modelamento teórico das estruturas superficiais empregou se o pacote MSCD [1] juntamente com um algoritmo genético [2] para acelerar a procura dos parâmetros estruturais. Determinou se que o filme mais fino de óxido de cromo correspondia a CrO com uma reconstrução p(2x2). A primeira e a segunda distâncias interplanares foram determinadas como sendo iguais a 0,16 Å e 1,92 Å, respectivamente. O filme mais grosso foi estudado em duas situações, como crescido e após tratamento térmico a 973K. Nas duas situações o filme se apresentou como a-Cr2O3(0001), mas com terminações diferentes. Antes do aquecimento do filme os resultados de XPD mostraram que a superfície é terminada por uma camada de "O" com a primeira distância interplanar expandida de 9,5% em relação ao seu valor no volume. Depois do aquecimento, a superfície é terminada em uma dupla camada formada por átomos de Cr, com a primeira distância interplanar reduzida de 68% em relação ao seu valor no volume. Os resultados para a superfície do STO mostraram regiões de SrO e TiO2. Em ambos os casos todas as camadas de cátions relaxam para dentro e os átomos da segunda camada relaxam para fora resultando na corrugação das superfícies do TiO2e SrO. Estes resultados se comparam muito bem com os resultados encontrados por LEED. Usando o algoritmo genético foi possível determinar que 30% da superfície do cristal é recoberta por ilhas de SrO(100) / Abstract: This thesis presents a study of the atomic structure of the surface of two materials with potential as supports for metallic nanoparticles in model catalysts. The first is Chromium Oxide that is used as a support for commercial catalysts, and the second is SrTiO3(100) (STO), which has the very interesting characteristic of inducing the growth of nanoparticles of some metals with different shapes depending on the type of heat treatment of the support. The Chromium Oxide used in this study was in the form of ordered films grown epitaxially on a Pd(111) crystal, while the SrTiO3 consisted of a bulk crystal doped with Nb cleaved along the (100) face. The epitaxial Chromium Oxide films were grown in situ in a surface analysis chamber by evaporating metallic Cr under 1.0x10-6 mBar of O2 pressure on to the substrate heated to 623K. The films as grown showed clear LEED (Low Energy Electron Diffraction) patterns and constant stoichiometry. Two different reconstructions were studied: p(2x2), that was present for thin films of about 3.5 Å, and (V3xV3)R30o, which is characteristic of thicker films (above 12.0 Å). The composition and detailed surface structures were determined by XPS (X-Ray Photo electron Spectroscopy) and XPD (X-Ray Photoelectron Diffraction). SrTiO3 is an insulator, but doping with Nb makes it sufficiently conducting so that it is possible to use LEED, XPS and XPD without charging problems inherent to insulating samples. Two types of radiation were used for exciting the samples: synchrotron radiation (700eV) from the SGM beam line at the Brazilian National Synchrotron Radiation Light Laboratory and conventional X-rays from Al and Mg anodes. To simulate the surface structures the MSCD package [1] was used. To accelerate the optimization of the structural parameters a genetic algorithm [2] was used in conjunction with the MSCD package. The thinner Chromium Oxide film was shown to consist of CrO with a p(2x2) reconstruction, having as first and second interlayer distances 0,16 Å and 1,92 Å respectively. The thicker Chromium Oxide film was studied as grown and after annealing at 973K. In both cases the structure was determined to be a-Cr2O3(0001), but with different surface termination. XPD revealed that the film as grown was terminated by an O monolayer, with the first interlayer distance expanded by 9.5% relative to bulk values. After annealing the film was shown to terminate in two atomic layers of Cr, who¿s interlayer distance was reduced by 68% relative to the bulk. Results for the surface of STO showed regions covered by SrO and TiO2. In both cases the cation layers relaxed inwards and the atoms of the second layer outwards, resulting in corrugated surfaces. These results compare very well with results obtained by LEED. By using the genetic algorithm [2], it was possible to show that 30% of the surface was covered by SrO(100) islands / Doutorado / Física da Matéria Condensada / Doutor em Ciências

Ao final da década de 1980, pesquisadores da empresa Eastman Kodak anunciaram as propriedades eletroluminescentes de materiais orgânicos não poliméricos. Seguindo essa linha, em 1990, um grupo de pesquisadores ingleses demonstrou propriedades semelhantes para os polímeros, utilizando-os como elementos ativos de dispositivos emissores de luz. Era este o início de uma nova área de pesquisa que tinha interface na eletrônica e nos novos semicondutores poliméricos. Surgiram os chamados polímeros luminescentes - resultado das descobertas das propriedades semicondutoras dos polímeros e copolímeros, blendas e heteroestruturas orgânico-inorgânicas. Os materiais semicondutores poliméricos apresentam diversas vantagens associadas à sua característica de fácil processamento e baixo custo de produção. Podem ser utilizados na forma de filmes finos que têm boas propriedades mecânicas e que permitem a sua utilização em substratos flexíveis. Diversas empresas como Philips, Sony, Pioneer, DuPont, Kodak e Uniax têm investido fortemente em pesquisa e desenvolvimento de dispositivos eletroluminescentes, memórias, sensores de imagem e outros sensores que aproveitam as propriedades dos polímeros semicondutores. A radiação, numa variada faixa de comprimentos de onda, pode afetar as propriedades de alguns desses polímeros semicondutores. A característica de material semicondutor, inerente a esses materiais, pode ser degradada por efeito de foto-oxidação que pode ser estimulado pela exposição à radiação. Surge a possibilidade de desenvolver dispositivos baseados em polímeros semicondutores para uso em detectores de radiação. Este trabalho consiste num estudo de desenvolvimento de dosímetros poliméricos de radiação para a faixa de comprimento de onda entre 400 nm e 500 nm, especificamente usada em ambientes hospitalares no tratamento intensivo de neonatos. Com o objetivo descrito, foi realizado o estudo de substratos adequados para a finalidade desejada, o desenvolvimento de um processo de deposição para os dispositivos de filmes-finos e o estudo da influência da radiação na faixa do ultravioleta-visível (UV-Vis) em suas propriedades. Das diversas técnicas de deposição de filmes finos existentes, foi selecionada para este estudo, a de deposição por jato de tinta (\"inkjet printing\") devido às suas características de simplicidade, potencial custo baixo e, principalmente, o menor nível de perda do polímero a ser depositado, já que a referida técnica permite a deposição de quantidades mínimas do material. Como material ativo foi selecionado um semicondutor polimérico da família dos polifluorenos, devido ao seu relativamente fácil manuseio. Pesquisadores da área, cada vez mais, acreditam que a impressão por jato de tinta seja uma das técnicas de deposição mais promissoras para a produção em grande escala. O objetivo desta pesquisa é contribuir com um novo instrumento a ser usado no monitoramento da irradiação no tratamento fototerápico da hiperbilirrubinemia no ambiente da neonatologia hospitalar. Atualmente os bebês recém-nascidos são tratados com empirismo considerável tendo em conta não haver procedimentos de controle para a dose da irradiação aplicada ao neonato nas incubadora neonatal das maternidades. Os riscos de hiperbilirrubinemia severa do neonato incluem a possibilidade de surdez, de paralisia cerebral ou mesmo de lesão cerebral em casos extremos. A observada Icterícia pode estar ligada à imaturidade do fígado do bebê. A bilirubinemia é muito freqüente em neonatos e precisa ser tratada para a redução dos citados riscos. O tratamento mais comum é a fototerapia com radiação na faixa do UV-próximo/azul. A fototerapia é realizada por várias sessões de muitas horas que dependem do nível de hiperbilirrubinemia no sangue, TBS (Total Bilirrubine Serum) do bebê. A hiperbilirrubinemia é crítica quando seu nível for igual ou maior que 428 micromol/litro ou 25 mg/dL (Referencia - Previsão e prevenção de hiperbilirrubinemia de neonatal extremo, T.B., Newman et al., Arco Pediatr Adolesc Med/Vol 154, Nov. 2000 pp 1140-1147). Além de permitir reduzir o empirismo do tratamento com o uso de um dosímetro para a faixa de radiação em tela, este pode ser usado para avaliar a condição da fonte de radiação específica de luz usada neste tipo de tratamento. O dosímetro proposto, como instrumento adicional para os neonatologistas poderá monitorar as doses de radiação aplicada durante a fototerapia e evitar excessos, reduzindo o tempo no protocolo de tratamento neonatal. / At the end of the 1980s, researchers from Eastman Kodak announced the electroluminescent properties of non-polymeric organic materials. At the beginning of the 1990s, researchers from the UK showed similar properties of organic polymers, using them as active elements in light emitting devices. It was the beginning of a new research area interfacing the electronics and the new polymeric semiconductors. As a result of the findings on the semiconducting properties of polymers and copolymers, blends and organic-inorganic heterostructures, a new class of materials became the research subject of several groups. Polymer semiconductors exhibit several advantages like simple processing and low production cost. They can be utilized as thin-films with good mechanical properties for use in flexible substrates. Several high-tech enterprises like Philips, Sony, Pioneer, DuPont, Kodak and Uniax are investing strongly in the research and development of such materials and devices, including memories, image sensors, light-emmiting devices, among others. Radiation in a very broad range of wavelengths can affect characteristics of some semiconductor polymers. Their inherent semiconducting feature can be degraded by the photo-oxidation effect, activated by radiation exposition. This suggests the possibility of the development of semiconductor polymer based radiation sensing devices. This work deals with a study of radiation dosimeters for the wavelength range of 400 nm to 500 nm, specifically important at the maternity hospitals in the therapy of newborn babies. To cope with this objective, the study of adequate substrates, development of suitable deposition process for the thin-film devices and study of its properties changes with radiation in the ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) range was done. From the different thin-film deposition techniques, the inkjet deposition technique was selected for this study thanks to its production simplicity, potential low cost an, mainly, because it permits the deposition of minute amounts of material, leading to very little material losses. As the active material a polymeric semiconductor of the fluorene family was selected thanks to its easy processing. Researchers of this area, more and more, believe that the Inkjet Printing is one of the very promising deposition techniques for mass production of those devices. The aim of this research is to offer a new tool to be used in the monitor of the irradiation in the phototherapy for severe hyperbilirubinemia of newborn babies. In most cases newborn babies are treated with a considerably empiric protocol considering the inexistence of procedures to control the radiation doses in the treatments. The risks of extreme neonatal hyperbilirubinemia include possibility of deafness, cerebral palsy or brain damage in extreme cases. Jaundice may be due to the immaturity of baby\'s liver. Bilirubinemia is most frequent in newborn and must be treated to reduce such risks. The most common treatment is phototherapy with nearUV-blue radiation. Phototherapy is accomplished by several sessions of many hours depending on the Total Bilirubin Serum (TBS) found in the baby blood. Hyperbilirubinemia is very dangerous to the near-term newborn when its level is equal or greater than 428 micromol/liter or 25 mg/dL (Reference Prediction and prevention of extreme neonatal hyperbilirubinemia, T.B., Newman et al., Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med/Vol 154, Nov. 2000 pp 1140-1147). Besides reducing the empiric treatments based on the nearUV-blue radiation, the use of a sensor can be important to evaluate the condition of the specific type of lamp used in the treatments. The proposed dosimeter can be an additional instrument for the neonatologists to be used in the determination of the phototherapy radiation dose, thus reducing, in the medical protocol, the jaundice treatment time.

Organic thin film transistors (OTFT) are a key active devices of future organic electronic circuits. The biggest advantages of organic electronics are the potential for cheep production and the enabling of new applications for light, bendable or transparent devices. These benefits are offered by a wide spectrum of various molecules and polymers that are optimized for different purpose. In this work, several interesting organic semiconductors are compared as well as transistor geometries and processing steps. In a cooperation with an industrial partner, test series of transistors are produced that are intensively characterized and used as a basis for later device simulation. Therefore, among others 4-point-probe measurements are used for a potential mapping of the transistor channel and via transfer line method the contact resistance is measured in a temperature range between 173 and 353 K. From later comparison with the simulation models, it appears that the geometrical resistance is actually more important for the transistor performance than the resistance of charge-carrier injection at the electrodes. The charge-carrier mobility is detailed evaluated and discussed. Within the observed temperature range a Arrhenius-like thermal activation of the charge- carrier transport is determined with an activation energy of 170 meV. Furthermore, a dependence of the electric field-strength of a Poole-Frenkel type is found with a Poole-Frenkel factor of about 4.9 × 10E−4 (V/m) −0.5 that is especially important for transistors with small channel length. With these two considerations, already a good agreement between device simulation and measurement data is reached. In a detailed discussion of the dependence on the charge-carrier density and from comparison with established the charge-carrier mobility models, an exponential density of states could be estimated for the organic semiconductor. However, reliability of OTFTs remains one of the most challenging hurdles to be understood and resolved for broad commercial applications. In particular, bias-stress is identified as the key instability under operation for numerous OTFT devices and interfaces. In this work, a novel approach is presented that allows controlling and significantly alleviating the bias-stress effect by using molecular doping at low concentrations. For pentacene as semiconductor and SiO2 as gate oxide, we are able to reduce the time constant of degradation by three orders of magnitude. The effect of molecular doping on the bias-stress is explained in terms of the shift of Fermi level and, thus, exponentially reduced proton generation at the pentacene/oxide interface. For transistors prepared in cooperation with the industrial partner, a second effect is observed that can be explained by a model considering a ferroelectric process in the dielectric and counteracts the bias-stress behavior.

La coextrusion multinanocouche est un procédé innovant qui permet de combiner deux polymères afin de produire des films composés de couches alternées dont le nombre peut être contrôlé et atteindre plusieurs milliers. Ainsi, les épaisseurs des couches individuelles dans le film peuvent en théorie atteindre quelques nanomètres. Les effets de confinement des chaînes macromoléculaires ainsi que la multiplication des interfaces peuvent alors conduire à des propriétés macroscopiques améliorées, pertinentes dans un contexte industriel (optiques, mécaniques, barrière aux gaz, …). Néanmoins, à ces échelles, des défauts dans la continuité des couches peuvent apparaître pendant la mise en forme et affecter ces propriétés. L’objectif de cette thèse est d’identifier les paramètres clés, procédés et matériaux, et de mieux comprendre les mécanismes à l’origine des instabilités conduisant à ces inhomogénéités de la nanostructure. Dans ce cadre, deux polymères amorphes ont été principalement étudiés, le polyméthacrylate de méthyle (PMMA) et le polystyrène (PS). Des films composés de 65 à plus de 8000 couches alternées, à différents taux d’étirage et compositions massiques, ont été fabriqués dans le but d’étudier la stabilité du procédé à différentes échelles et principalement à l’échelle nanométrique. Les films obtenus ont été caractérisés par microscopie, en particulier la microscopie à force atomique (AFM). Un premier travail a consisté à mettre en place une démarche statistique et quantitative pour caractériser l’épaisseur moyenne des couches obtenues, mais aussi la distribution d’épaisseur et la stabilité des couches. Puis, nous avons cherché à sonder l’effet de différents paramètres procédés et matériaux sur l’homogénéité des structures à l’échelle micronique. En se plaçant ensuite dans des conditions stables à ces échelles, nous avons cherché à faire varier de manière systématique les paramètres procédés pour étudier la stabilité des couches à l’échelle nanométrique. Nous avons mis en évidence l’existence d’une épaisseur critique en dessous de laquelle les couches rompaient, située autour de 10 nm pour le couple PS/PMMA. Lorsque l’épaisseur visée est de l’ordre de la dizaine de nanomètres ou inférieures, le taux de rupture de couches augmente également fortement. Des hypothèses sont faites quant aux causes de ces ruptures et de l’existence de cette épaisseur critique. Nous suggérons que ces ruptures peuvent être provoquées par des perturbations interfaciales (liées à des impuretés et/ou aux fluctuations thermiques) amplifiées par les forces de van der Waals qui deviennent non négligeables pour de faibles épaisseurs de couches (typiquement inférieures à 40 nm) et sont attractives entre deux couches de même nature. Des expériences modèles sont proposées dans la perspective d'une approche quantitative des conditions critiques d'apparition de ces défauts. / Nanolayer coextrusion enables the production of polymeric films composed of up to thousands of alternating layers. The thickness of each layer can in theory be controlled, by monitoring the number of layers, the mass ratio of the polymers, and the draw ratio of the film at the exit die, and can decrease down to several nanometers. It has been shown that such films can display drastically improved macroscopic properties, such as optical, gas barrier, or mechanical, due to confinement and interfacial effects. However, layer beak-up phenomenon occurring at such thicknesses, impacting the resulting properties, has also been reported for many polymer pairs. The goal of this thesis is to investigate the causes for these break-ups and for the instabilities leading to them. Most of this work deals with multilayer films of polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) and polystyrene (PS), two amorphous polymers which blends were widely studied in the literature. Films with 65 to more than 8000 layers were fabricated by modifying processing and molecular parameters, to determine their impact on the homogeneity of the samples. These films were characterized mainly by using microscopy techniques, and especially atomic force microscopy (AFM), to extract not only the mean layer thickness, but distribution of thicknesses and the ratio of broken layers within the sample. A first necessary step was to develop a reliable statistical and quantitative analysis to obtain such information. Then, a first study focused on the effects of some process and material parameters on the homogeneity of multilayer films with micronic thicknesses. Choosing favourable experimental conditions at these scales, nanolayered films were then fabricated. We showed the existence of a critical layer thickness, below which layer breakup, estimated at around 10 nm for PS/PMMA films. When the targeted thickness is around or below 10 nm, the amount of broken layers increases significantly. We make the hypothesis that the layer breakup phenomenon is due to interfacial instabilities driven by van der Waals forces. The thicknesses of the layers we can reach with this process are so small that dispersive forces between two layers composed of the same polymer cannot be neglected (typically below 100 nm). Model experiments are proposed to quantitatively study the critical conditions of appearance of these layer breakups.