The central nervous system (CNS) has an astonishing diversity of neurons and glia. The diversity of cell types in the CNS has greatly increased throughout evolution and underlies our unique cognitive abilities. The diverse neurons and glia in the CNS are made from a relatively small pool of neural stem cells and progenitors. Understanding the developmental mechanisms that generate diverse cell types from neural progenitors will provide insight into the complexity of the mammalian CNS and guide stem cell based therapies for brain repair. Temporal patterning, during which individual neural progenitors change over time to make different neurons and a glia, is essential for the generation of neural diversity. However, the regulation of temporal patterning is poorly understood. Human outer subventricular zone (OSVZ) neural stem cells and Drosophila type II neural stem cells (called neuroblasts) both generate transit-amplifying intermediate neural progenitors (INPs). INPs undergo additional rounds of cell division to increase the number of neurons and glia generated in neural stem cell lineages. However, it is unknown whether INPs simply expand the numbers of a particular cell type or make diverse neural progeny. In this dissertation, I show that type II neuroblast lineages give rise to extraordinary neural diversity in the Drosophila adult brain and contribute diverse neurons to a major brain structure, the central complex. I find that INPs undergo temporal patterning to expand neural diversity in type II lineages. I show that INPs sequentially generate distinct neural subtypes; that INPs sequentially express Dichaete, Grainyhead, and Eyeless transcription factors; and that these transcription factors are required for the production of distinct neural subtypes. Moreover, I find that parental type II neuroblasts also sequentially express transcription factors and generate different neuronal/glial progeny over time, providing a second temporal identity axis. I conclude that neuroblast and INP temporal patterning axes act combinatorially to specify diverse neural cell types within adult central complex; OSVZ neural stem cells may use similar mechanisms to increase neural diversity in the human brain. This dissertation includes previously published co-authored material.

L'objectif de cette thèse a été l'évaluation de deux semi-conducteurs (l'InP :Fe et le SPS :Te) comme matériaux pour les télécommunications optiques aux longueurs d'ondes infrarouges. <br /> D'abord, en ce qui concerne l'InP :Fe: nous avons fait une caractérisation systématique du phénomène d'autofocalisation photoréfractive, prenant en compte les paramètres les plus importants qui intervient dans ce phénomène (température, dopage, intensité du faisceau et de l'éclairage de fond, polarisation du faisceau). Ainsi, nous sommes maintenant capables de contrôler le phénomène d'autofocalisation. En tenant compte également des temps de réponse mesurés et des simulations réalisées, nous croyons que l'interaction de deux faisceaux autofocalisés est possible et maîtrisable sur une échelle de temps de l'ordre de microsecondes. Néanmoins, alors que nous connaissons l'influence des paramètres mis en jeu sur l'autofocalisation, le développement d'un modèle théorique reste indispensable pour une compréhension des mécanismes physiques qui déterminent la dynamique de l'autofocalisation photoréfractive. Nos mesures expérimentales et simulations théoriques ont montré que les modèles existants ne décrivent pas d'une manière satisfaisante les phénomènes observés dans InP :Fe.<br /> En revanche, l'autofocalisation observée dans le SPS :Te est décrite par les modèles "classiques" existants. On peut dire que ce deux matériaux sont complémentaires: alors que dans le SPS :Te l'autofocalisation est plus lente que dans l'InPFe, elle est plus forte et plus facile à maîtriser. Tenant compte de cette remarque, nous croyons que ces deux matériaux trouveront leur place dans de futures applications.

Les structurations de la matière à l'échelle nanométrique ont ouvert de larges champs d'étude. L'analyse des propriétés structurales des nanostructures, de leur degré d'organisation ainsi que leur influence sur les propriétés électroniques représentent actuellement un défi de première importance. Pour accéder à ces informations, il est souvent nécessaire de faire appel à un ensemble de techniques expérimentales et numériques souvent complexes dans leur mise en oeuvre. Dans cette contribution, nous étudions l'organisation et le confinement électronique dans des multiplans de boîtes quantiques, en nous appuyant à la fois sur une étude expérimentale et un travail de modélisation. Les interférences Raman, observées dans la gamme des phonons acoustiques, résultent de l'interaction entre ces derniers et les états électroniques localisés dans les nanostructures. Parce qu'ils explorent une gamme allant de quelques nanomètres à plusieurs centaines de nanomètres, les phonons acoustiques représentent une sonde particulièrement efficace pour l'étude des nanosystèmes. Les interférences Raman utilisent leur sensibilité pour la mesure des propriétés structurales et électroniques. Elles permettent de mesurer les effets de corrélation verticale et latérale dans les multiplans de boîtes quantiques. Nous avons développé un modèle général dont le domaine d'application s'étend des systèmes contenant quelques plans au super-réseaux. En utilisant l'analyse de Fourier des interférences, on détermine la fonction d'auto-corrélation de la densité de probabilité électronique selon l'axe de croissance. Sensible à la taille et à la forme de la densité électronique, les interférences Raman ouvrent la voie à une imagerie optique de la densité électronique.

<p>Direct semiconductor wafer bonding has emerged as a technology to meet the demand foradditional flexibility in materials integration. The applications are found in microelectronics, optoelectronics and micromechanics. For instance, wafer bonding is used to produce silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafers. Wafer bonding is also interesting to use for combining dissimilar semiconductors, such as Si and InP, with different dictated optical, electronic and mechanicalproperties. This enables a completely new freedom in the design of components and systems, e.g. for high performance optoelectronic integrated circuits (OEIC). Although wafer bonding has proved to be a useful and versatile tool, the high temperature annealing that is needed to achieve reliable properties sometimes hampers its applicability. Therefore, low temperature wafer bonding procedures may further qualify this technology.</p><p>In the present thesis, low temperature wafer bonding procedures using oxygen plasma surface activation have been studied. A specially designed fixture was adopted enabling <i>in situ </i>oxygen plasma wafer bonding. Oxygen plasma surface activation was seen to indeed yield high Si-Si bonding-strength at low temperatures. Here, the optimisation of the plasma parameters was shown to be the key to improved results. Furthermore, dependence of wafer bonded Si p-n junctions on the annealing temperature was investigated. InP-to-Si wafer bonding is also presented within this thesis. High temperature annealing was seen to induce severe material degradation. However, using oxygen plasma assisted wafer bonding reliable InP-to-Si integration was achieved already at low temperature, thereby circumventing the problems associated with the lattice and thermal mismatch that exist between these materials. As a result, low temperature InP-based epitaxial-layer transferring to Si could be presented. Finally, high-quality SiO2 insulator on InP and Si was realised at low temperatures.</p><p>It is concluded that low temperature oxygen plasma assisted wafer bonding is an interesting approach to integrate dissimilar materials, for a wide range of applications.</p>

Direct semiconductor wafer bonding has emerged as a technology to meet the demand foradditional flexibility in materials integration. The applications are found in microelectronics, optoelectronics and micromechanics. For instance, wafer bonding is used to produce silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafers. Wafer bonding is also interesting to use for combining dissimilar semiconductors, such as Si and InP, with different dictated optical, electronic and mechanicalproperties. This enables a completely new freedom in the design of components and systems, e.g. for high performance optoelectronic integrated circuits (OEIC). Although wafer bonding has proved to be a useful and versatile tool, the high temperature annealing that is needed to achieve reliable properties sometimes hampers its applicability. Therefore, low temperature wafer bonding procedures may further qualify this technology. In the present thesis, low temperature wafer bonding procedures using oxygen plasma surface activation have been studied. A specially designed fixture was adopted enabling in situ oxygen plasma wafer bonding. Oxygen plasma surface activation was seen to indeed yield high Si-Si bonding-strength at low temperatures. Here, the optimisation of the plasma parameters was shown to be the key to improved results. Furthermore, dependence of wafer bonded Si p-n junctions on the annealing temperature was investigated. InP-to-Si wafer bonding is also presented within this thesis. High temperature annealing was seen to induce severe material degradation. However, using oxygen plasma assisted wafer bonding reliable InP-to-Si integration was achieved already at low temperature, thereby circumventing the problems associated with the lattice and thermal mismatch that exist between these materials. As a result, low temperature InP-based epitaxial-layer transferring to Si could be presented. Finally, high-quality SiO2 insulator on InP and Si was realised at low temperatures. It is concluded that low temperature oxygen plasma assisted wafer bonding is an interesting approach to integrate dissimilar materials, for a wide range of applications.

External modulators will become key components in fiberoptical communica- tion systems operating at 40Gbit/s andhigher bitrates. Semiconductor electro- absorption (EA)modulators are promising candidates because of their high-speed potential, and their process compatibility with thecorresponding semi- conductor laser light sources. Thetraveling-wave (TW) electrode concept for electro-opticmodulators has been used for a long time in order to resolvethe con°ict between high modulation depth and highmodulation bandwidth. Re- cently, it has been adopted for EAmodulators as well. This thesis presents the work carried out on design,fabrication and analysis of traveling-wave EA modulators(TWEAM) based on InP-InGaAsP. The lengths of TWEAM arecomparable to the lengths of their lumped counterparts. Theexperimental data of this work were analyzed in order show thatthe traveling- wave concept results in better performance evenfor short EA modulators. One key issue is the impedancematching. The low intrinsic characteristic modulator impedancehas to be matched with a corresponding load. In this case, theTW con figuration leads to a much higher bandwidth than for alumped EA modulator with the same length and the same connectedload. An InP process was developed allowing the fabrication ofTWEAM with integrated termination resistors. Experimentalmicrowave properties were ob- tained for different TWEAMgeometries. It is reported on long TWEAM that showstate-of-the-art bandwidth. A 450&amp;#956m long TWEAM reached43GHz, and 67GHz (beyond characterization limit) were indicatedfor a 250&amp;#956m device. The experimental results onmicrowave properties were compared to full-wave, and circuitmodel simulations. The analysis reveals an impedance bandwidthtrade- off for the cross sectional electrode configuration. Results of a new high-impedance design in form of asegmented TWEAM are presented. The devices were processedwithin the frame of this work and record bandwidth performanceis reported. At 50&amp;#937­ impedance a bandwidth in the90GHz region was indicated.

<p>External modulators will become key components in fiberoptical communica- tion systems operating at 40Gbit/s andhigher bitrates. Semiconductor electro- absorption (EA)modulators are promising candidates because of their high-speed potential, and their process compatibility with thecorresponding semi- conductor laser light sources. Thetraveling-wave (TW) electrode concept for electro-opticmodulators has been used for a long time in order to resolvethe con°ict between high modulation depth and highmodulation bandwidth. Re- cently, it has been adopted for EAmodulators as well.</p><p>This thesis presents the work carried out on design,fabrication and analysis of traveling-wave EA modulators(TWEAM) based on InP-InGaAsP. The lengths of TWEAM arecomparable to the lengths of their lumped counterparts. Theexperimental data of this work were analyzed in order show thatthe traveling- wave concept results in better performance evenfor short EA modulators. One key issue is the impedancematching. The low intrinsic characteristic modulator impedancehas to be matched with a corresponding load. In this case, theTW con figuration leads to a much higher bandwidth than for alumped EA modulator with the same length and the same connectedload.</p><p>An InP process was developed allowing the fabrication ofTWEAM with integrated termination resistors. Experimentalmicrowave properties were ob- tained for different TWEAMgeometries. It is reported on long TWEAM that showstate-of-the-art bandwidth. A 450&#956m long TWEAM reached43GHz, and 67GHz (beyond characterization limit) were indicatedfor a 250&#956m device. The experimental results onmicrowave properties were compared to full-wave, and circuitmodel simulations. The analysis reveals an impedance bandwidthtrade- off for the cross sectional electrode configuration.</p><p>Results of a new high-impedance design in form of asegmented TWEAM are presented. The devices were processedwithin the frame of this work and record bandwidth performanceis reported. At 50&#937­ impedance a bandwidth in the90GHz region was indicated.</p>

Nous avons étudié la croissance de boîtes quantiques InAs/InP(001) par épitaxie en phase vapeur aux organométalliques en vue de la réalisation de composants à 1,55 µm. Les propriétés structurales des boîtes, étudiées par microscopie électronique en transmission, et leurs propriétés optiques, étudiées par photoluminescence, ont été corrélées aux conditions de croissance. Notre étude met en évidence d'une part les influences d'origine thermodynamique et cinétique des paramètres de croissance de l'InAs, et d'autre part une influence de l'étape de recouvrement des boîtes (encapsulation). <br />Nous montrons que la longueur d'onde d'émission des boîtes peut être ajustée soit en modifiant la vitesse d'encapsulation, soit en incorporant volontairement du phosphore (formation de boîtes InAsP). Le bon contrôle de la morphologie et de la longueur d'onde d'émission des boîtes permet d'envisager des applications dans le domaine des télécommunications à 1,55 µm qui ont motivé ce travail. L'encapsulation des boîtes InAs/InP à forte vitesse de croissance nous a par ailleurs permis d'obtenir une émission au delà de 2 µm, ce qui ouvre de nouvelles perspectives d'applications dans la réalisation de sources pour la détection de gaz. <br />Enfin, l'observation à basse température (4 K) de l'exciton et du biexciton d'une boîte quantique InAs/InP(001) unique en micro-photoluminescence montre que ces boîtes pourraient être utilisées pour la réalisation de sources de photons uniques pour la cryptographie quantique à 1,55 µm.

In this project we studied the formation of nanoripples in calcite and InP single crystals by continuous scanning using the nanoindenter in the ambient environment and by Argon ion irradiation under ultra high vacuum conditions, respectively. Formation of tip induced nanowear ripples is studied on a freshly cleaved calcite single crystal as a function of scanning frequency and contact load of the diamond tip. At lower loads, initiation of the ripples takes place at the bottom of the surface slope at 3 Hz scanning frequency, which continue to propagate as scanning progresses. The orientation of these ripple structures is perpendicular to the scan direction. As the number of scans increases, ripples fully develop, and their height and periodicity increase with the number of scans by merging ripples together. At 6 mu N normal load, tip induced wear occurred as the tip started removing the ripple structures with increased number of scan cycles. As the contact load increased further, a ripple structure was not initiated and only tip induced wear occurred on the surface. At 1 Hz frequency material removal takes place as the tip moves back and forth and material slides towards the scan edges. Material removal rate increased with contact load and it is observed that the number of scans required to create a new surface is inversely proportional to the contact load. Possible mechanisms responsible for the formation of ripples at higher frequencies are attributed to the slope of the surface, piezo hysteresis,system dynamics or a combination of effects. Single crystal calcite hardness of 2.8 GPa and elastic modulus of 80 GPa were measured using nanoindentation. Evolution of nanostructures on the InP surface due to ion bombardment has been studied with scanning tunneling microscopy in UHV environment. InP crystal surfaces were irradiated by Argon ion incident beam with 3 KeV energy at an incident angle of 75 degrees. Self-organization of the surface was studied by varying the ion fluence from 7.7E13 to 4.6E17 ions per square centimeter. The observed nanoripple morphologies have been explained based on the concept of interplay between roughening and smoothing processes. Wavelength of the nanostructures linearly increases with the logarithm of the fluence. The rms roughness is approximately linear with the logarithm of the fluence. Nanoindentation experiments were performed on InP surface before and after ion bombardment to determine variation in hardness and elastic modulus. Surface of irradiated InP has higher H and E values as the surface become amorphized after Ar+ ion bombardment.

Ce travail porte sur la croissance épitaxiale et la caractérisation optique de boîtes quantiques d'InAs/InP(001) en faible densité en vue de la réalisation de nouveaux composants nanophotoniques émettant à 1,55 µm. Les propriétés structurales et optiques des îlots ont été corrélés pour différents paramètres de croissance d'un système d'épitaxie par jet moléculaire à sources solides. Nos résultats soulignent l'influence des reconstructions de surface d'InAs sur la forme des îlots. Des boîtes, plutôt que des bâtonnets allongés généralement observés,peuvent être directement formées dans des conditions de croissance adéquates. Une transition de forme de bâtonnets vers des boîtes est également démontrée par des traitements postcroissance sous arsenic. Les faibles densités de boîtes sont obtenues pour des faibles épaisseurs d'InAs déposées. Leur émission est facilement contrôlée à 1,55 µm par une procédure d'encapsulation spécifique appelé " double cap ". Quelques propriétés des boîtes individuelles d'InAs/InP sont ensuite évaluées. Les études de micro-photoluminescence révèlent des pics d'émission très fins et distincts autour de 1,55 µm confirmant les propriétés" quasi-atomiques " de ces boîtes uniques. Enfin, nous proposons pour la première fois une méthode à haute résolution spatiale qui permet d'étudier le transport de charges autour d'une boîte unique grâce à une technique de cathodoluminescence à basse tension d'accélération.Une mesure directe de la longueur de diffusion des porteurs avant capture dans une boîte a été obtenue. Ces résultats ouvrent de nouvelles perspectives quant à l'intégration de ces boîtes uniques dans des microcavités optiques pour la réalisation de sources de lumières quantiques à 1,55 µm.