Contact : Afshin ZIAEI Afshin.ziaeu@thalesgroup.com

www.thalesgroup.com/Group/Innovation

THALES Research and Technology - France located near Paris, is the main multidisciplinary research unit of the THALES group, one of the major world players in civilian & professional electronics. Through its internal activities and scientific links with industries and universities, either in France or internationally, TRT is participating in the preparation of THALES industrial future in strategic R&D fields. In addition to R&D activities, TRT also provides scientific and technical advice, expertise or services for the company. TRT has been participating in or leading numerous research programs, either national or EU-funded, in the frame of ACTS, TELEMATICS, ESPRIT, BRITE-EURAM, TMR, ISM programme Its technological lead in these high-added-value fields naturally is compounded with the best production solution at the lowest cost. Owing to its production capacities and to its organizational flexibility, THALES Research & Technology ranks among top competitors worldwide. Technological expertise and extensive know-how make THALES Research & Technology a privileged partner for developing top-performance and highly competitive products and systems. The works undergone by THALES in the field of RF MEMS dates back from 1994, and have been initially related to various studies carried out in the field of Wireless Sensors Remotely Powered by Microwaves. These studies revealed the need for a special function making it possible to transfer in free space digital data flows on 2.45 GHz frequency carriers, with a drastic constraint of reduced power dissipation (P < 5 µW). The traditional solution using a VCO being largely inefficient, a new concept based on a MEMS microwave frequency translator was designed and simulated with specific tools by TRT, then implemented in SiO₂/Si technology thanks to a close co-operation with ESIEE, and finally successfully tested in the field, during a test on wireless sensors embedded in concrete. Since 1999, TRT has concentrated its efforts on the combination of Microwave Photonics and RF MEMS technologies for the development of active antennas. Among the different RF MEMS subjects in which TRT is now actively involved, the main functions under study are: power switches, MEMS power limiters, and controllable inductors and capacitors. The RF MEMS skills of TRT cover different levels of design expertise:

• Choice of the physics of the devices
• Design and simulation of innovative RF-MEMS functions
• Performance analysis (from the physical to the functional level) using proprietary and commercial software simulators
• Operational constraints analysis (from the characteristics of the signals to be processed down to the packaging performance simulation)

Participation to the technological choices (co-operation with the technology providers) derived from operational and functional choices.

Resources: The facilities, located in class 1000 and clean room areas, include: Chemical bench, Contact Mask Aligner for backside process (CD 1 μm), DC on wafer test station, E-beam evaporator, Electron Beam Lithography (CD 0.1μm), Inductively Coupled Plasma (ICP), Joule evaporator, Lapping & polishing Unit, Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapour Deposition (PECVD), Plating bench, Reactive Ion Etching (RIE), RF on wafer test station, Sputtering

Afshin ZIAEI received the B.S. degree in Electronics Engineering from the University of Paris XI (Orsay) in 1997 and the M.S. degree in Electronics and Microwaves Engineering from the University of Paris VI (Jussieu) in 1998 and he received Ph.D. degree in microwave from the Department of Electronics Engineering at CNRS-IEMN (Institut d'Electronique et de Microélectronique et de Nanotechnologie) in 2001. He joined the research engineer at Thales Research & Technology, France, in 1999. His research interests include the development, design, fabrication, and characterization of RF MEMS (Micro Electro Mechanical Systems) components such as mechanical switches, transmission lines, etc. He was involved or in charge of many French or European Projects (such as ARHMS, NANOPACK (coordinator of projects), ARESSAT, MEMS2, PEA MEMS, FLAME). He is a member of IEEE.

Dr. Guy GARRY (HDR) is in charge of the “Physical Analysis Laboratory” within the “Groupe Technologies Mesures”. His main work focused on thin film materials to be used in electronic and optronic equipments and radars. His expertise extends also over the deposition techniques such as Chemical Vapor deposition, Magnetron sputtering and Pulsed Laser deposition (PLD). He implanted this last technique (PLD) in TRT for the epitaxial growth of superconductors, ferroelectrics and thermochromic materials as well as multilayers of such materials. He has been an Associated Professor at the Université Paris-Sud (IFIPS) during three years. He has co-authored over 70 publications . He has been involved in many European and National projects and has coordinated several ones.

Shailendra Bansropun (1974) graduated with a Bachelor degree in electronics/telecommunications and a Ph.D. in heterojunction bipolar transistors from the University of Sheffield (UK) in 1996 and 2001 respectively. Following a couple of years of engineering and design experience in the free space optics and telecommunication industry, he then moved on to Thales Research and Technology where he currently holds the post of research and technology engineer within the common technological platform in Palaiseau, France. His current research focuses on the technological aspects and innovative approaches in the various fields covering photonic devices, quantum dots devices, sub-wavelength diffractive optics as well as MEMS devices among others. He has co-authored over 25 publications and has also been involved in several European projects( BIGBAND, TERANOVA, KORRIGAN, ANSWER).