The context of wide bandgap power semiconductor devices necessitates to reinvent current packaging technologies. An innovative solution, based on the integration of power components within heat sinks, seems to be an excellent candidate to increase the power density of static converters. It is also highly modular, which makes it possible to envisage easier design and maintenance. In the DESTINI project, research works will be proposed to set up electrostatic, electrothermal and electromagnetic modeling methods of this kind of package. Reliability aspects will be addressed through the implementation of tools and methods for the study of damage. Technological works will be carried out to make test setups.

ARCHIVE aims at demonstrating a breakthrough power electronics module technology for 20 kV semiconductor devices. It addresses both electrical insulation performance as well as efficient thermal management. With standard technology, these two aspects rely on the same element: the ceramic substrate which is part of the power module. This results in a trade-off between thermal performance and maximum withstand voltage before breakdown. We estimate that this trade-off becomes unacceptable somewhere between 10 and 20 kV, as thicker and thicker ceramic substrates are necessary to sustain this range of voltages, resulting in a dramatic drop in thermal performances. The technical solutions investigated in ARCHIVE are based on an advanced ceramic substrate, with specific features on the topside, specially designed to limit the reinforcement of electrical field as present in standard substrates, and an innovative cooling approach on the backside, based on a combination of a ceramic material and an insulating cooling fluid, acting together in order to ensure an appropriate electrical field distribution. This architectured ceramic substrate will be designed for 20 kV devices, as these are already available in some research labs. However, the concept can be extended to much higher voltages, because it no longer imposes a trade-off between thermal conductivity and electrical insulation. For demonstration purposes, the outcome of ARCHIVE will be a complete power module integrating this new concept. This will clearly illustrate the advantages of our solution for applications such a High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) transmission, where it would offer dramatic simplification of the global system (moving from hundreds of power modules today to a few tens in the future). This is particularly important, as HVDC technology is expected to play a major role in future energy networks, especially regarding the integration of renewable energy production. Two companies and two academic research groups are involved in the ARCHIVE consortium: - CeramTec designs and manufactures ceramic parts - SuperGrid Institute develops HVDC technologies - Kempten University of Applied Science - Electronic Integration Laboratory is experienced in liquid cooling of power modules - Laplace Laboratory from University Toulouse III Paul Sabatier has a recognized expertise in dielectrics and high voltage insulation. Together, they form a sound consortium and will address the multi-disciplinary aspects of high voltage power module design. ARCHIVE builds on the already existing commitment of France in the development of HVDC technology, and the very strong power electronics eco-system of Germany.

The properties of wave propagation in moving media differ from those in non-moving media. The rotation of an isotropic dielectric medium is for instance known to lead to polarisation rotation, which corresponds to a phase shift between the spin angular momentum (SAM) components of the wave, and image rotation, which corresponds to a phase shift between the orbital angular momentum (OAM) components of the wave. Compared to typical dielectrics, a rotating magnetised plasma stands out in that polarisation rotation can arise from two different contributions: Faraday rotation, which stems from the intrinsic gyrotropy of plasmas, and mechanical polarisation rotation, which stems from the medium's rotation. A rotating magnetised plasma could also provide new means to transform SAM into OAM. Understanding the implications of rotation effects on propagation is anticipated to be of importance for basic plasma physics, but also for applications including pulsars physics and light manipulation. The first part of this project will be mostly theoretical and fundamental. We will seek here to derive dispersion relations for electromagnetic wave propagation in a rotating plasma. Practically, we will build on our recent results, notably the simple case of propagation without OAM in an aligned rotator, and progressively add complexity with the goal of producing the most general model possible. We will in particular aim to include both SAM and OAM, as well as different geometrical effects. These fundamental results will then provide us with the necessary tools to examine two practical applications. The first applied problem considered here will be to examine how these effects of rotation on wave propagation could be observed in laboratory experiments. Our preliminary results indeed suggest that the effect of mechanical rotation on wave polarisation in a plasma could in principle be separated from Faraday rotation in the presence of strong magnetic fields (tens to hundreds of Teslas). Such fields have recently been achieved using capacitor-coil targets in laser driven high energy density plasma (HEDP) experiments, and we will here seek to confirm in collaboration with HEDP specialists the possibility of using these unique conditions to measure polarisation drag. Concurrently with this work on polarisation rotation in laboratory experiments, a second applied problem we will consider is the possible effects of the mechanical rotation of the magnetosphere surrounding pulsars on the polarisation of pulsars's signal received on Earth. We will notably study here, in collaboration with pulsar polarimetry specialists, how the inclusion of pulsars inclination - which is essential to pulsars' emission - in propagation model derived in the presence of rotation could explain certain experimental polarimetric observations, and in turn confirm our theoretical conjecture that polarisation could be uniquely used to determine the rotation direction in pulsars.

This project aims to a better fundamental knowledge of discharge development and structure for low cost thin film deposition processes using low temperature plasmas at atmospheric pressure. Plasma technology is a key technology for the modification of surfaces by deposition of thin protective or functional layers. It is usually done by means of low-pressure plasmas, which require extensive vacuum equipment, require batch processing and disable in-line treatment of objects. Plasmas operated at atmospheric pressure, such as Dielectric Barrier Discharges (DBDs) can overcome these disadvantages as it could already be demonstrated for silicon containing films. However DBDs are usually strongly non-uniform and thus deposition of layers will be inhomogeneous. A full understanding of the underlying physics of discharge formation is still missing, in particular for conditions for layer deposition. For example the control of discharge uniformity in gas mixtures containing precursor molecules (deposit monomers) is rarely studied. Furthermore, layer deposition on surfaces can influence the discharge characteristics as the charging and emission of charge carriers is crucial for the operation of DBDs. Furthermore, the control of such discharges is still poor as an increase of the frequency, and consequently of the power dissipated in the gas, can drastically change the flow and the energy of the plasma species created in the gas phase and interacting with the surface. To study such processes and give experimental benchmarks for numerical simulation special dedicated DBD arrangement will be studied by means of electrical and optical diagnostics. Based on these results the correlation with layer deposition studies will result in a better understanding of the control of such processes. In detail it will be studied, how distinct discharge modes (filamentary DBD, homogenous DBD, patterned and self-organized DBD) can be controlled by means of operation parameters and discharge geometry. On one hand the discharge development of monofilaments in the filamentary mode will be investigated with special attention on the surface processes. Therefore systematic variation of the dielectrics (nature, thickness) as well as a quantitative measurement of the surface charges on the dielectrics by means of electro-optical effects are foreseen. In order to study the role of surface charging studies with liquid dielectrics, where deposited charges can be moved from the active discharge zone are also foreseen. On the other hand utilizing a novel DBD arrangement with structured electrode the collective effects between discharge channels and columns as well as the radial dynamics of discharge formation will be studied. Both teams in Toulouse and Greifswald have a long-term experience on DBDs and their diagnostics (including advanced diagnostics like cross correlation spectroscopy or Laser induced fluroescence). Two PhD students will be involved in the project. Each of them will have two co-supervisors from both countries and will spend a few months in the partner laboratory each year (total 9 months). This is an additional guarantee of efficient communication between the two partners, and of sharing of their specific expertise.

The emergence and selection of antibiotic-resistant bacteria is an ever increasing Public Health problem. Microbial adhesion and subsequent biofilm formation are at the origin of hospital-acquired infections, often leading to septic complications and lethal issues, and entailing large economical losses for the health-care systems. This threat is of particular concern when compared with the very limited number of new antimicrobial agents in the pipeline of the pharmaceutical industry. BENDIS project is conceived with objectives pointing this urgent problem. It aims to exploit in an original manner the antimicrobial properties of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) embedded in silica. Our ambition is to develop “nano-safer by design” coupled systems, intended to provide controlled antimicrobial activity of AgNPs over long time. The BENDIS project objectives are: (i) to identify the key molecular mechanisms responsible for adhesion of microorganisms on dielectric surfaces, (ii) to assess the conditioning role of proteins in the microbial adhesion/proliferation, (iii) to reveal as how the embedded in silica AgNPs alter the protein/cell adhesion and biofilm formation through the release of Ag+ and/or AgNPs and (iv) to evaluate the controlled antimicrobial efficiency of tailored by AgNPs surfaces. BENDIS project benefits from the synergy of knowledge and expertise of scientists from three academic partners in Toulouse: material scientists, physicists and physico-chemists from LAPLACE, material scientists, physicists and biochemists from CEMES, and microbiologists and chemists from LGC. A significant impact of the project shall be to suggest strategic orientations to the scientific and engineering communities involved in the conception and design of materials and devices for the medical domain. It is expected from BENDIS project to give a powerful impulse to the conception of AgNPs-tailored antimicrobial surfaces with reduced health and environmental impacts, to be applied as biocontamination inhibitors in the health-care domain and globally in the Public Health. These AgNPs-tailored nanocomposite layers will also be of particular interest to coating manufacturers for industrial sectors requiring preservation of the sanitary state in confined or inaccessible spaces. Thus BENDIS project is in line with both the national action plan on Antimicrobial resistance and the one developed by the World Health Organization, as well as is replying to epidemic or pandemic risks for emergent pathogens, including SARS-CoV2.