CEA - Vizta

Profile & expertise

A leader in research, development and innovation, the CEA, French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (Commissariat à l’énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives), is active in four main areas: low-carbon energies, information technologies and health technologies, Large Research Instruments, defense and global security. In each of these domains, the CEA relies on a high-level fundamental research and ensures a role of support to the industry. Within the CEA Technological Research Division, Leti and List research institutes are both involved in VIZTA project.

Leti is a recognized global leader focused on miniaturization technologies enabling energy efficient and secure solutions. Leti delivers solid expertise, from sensors to data processing and computing solutions. Leti pioneered FDSOI low power platforms for IoT, M&NEMS technology for low cost multisensors solutions, smart integration for highly connected and cost effective devices. Leti’s mission is to pioneer new technologies, enabling innovative solutions to strengthen Leti’s industrial partners competitiveness while creating a better future. It tackles most current global issues such as the future of industry, clean and safe energies, health and wellness, sustainable transport, information and communication technologies, space exploration and safety & security. For 50 years, the institute has built long-term relationships with its partners: global industrial companies, SMEs and start-ups. It tailors innovative and differentiating solutions that contribute to creating new jobs. Leti and its partners work together through bilateral projects, joint laboratories and collaborative research programs. Leti actively contributes to the creation of start-ups through its start-up program. Leti has signed partnerships with major research technology organizations and academic institutions. It is a member of the Carnot Institutes network.

List institute carries out research on intelligent digital systems. Its R&D programs, all with potentially major economic and social implications, focus on advanced manufacturing (robotics, virtual & augmented reality, non-destructive testing, vision), embedded systems (computing architectures, software and systems engineering, security & safety), and ambient intelligence (sensors, instrumentation & metrology, communication & sensory interfaces, data processing & multimedia). By developing cutting-edge technological research with applications in the industrial markets of transports, defense and security, manufacturing, energy and health, the List helps its partners to enhance their industrial competitiveness thanks to innovation and technology transfer.

Role in the Project

In VIZTA, CEA Leti and List play a central role through:

the support offered to ST Microelectronics for reaching industrial maturity level for a new generation of single photon avalanche diodes and indirect time-of-flight pixels for short-distance 3D-imaging. TCAD studies, pixel simulation and design, test and characterization, and assistance for specific technological steps in Leti cleanrooms are carried out.
the study and validation on silicon of complex RGB+Z pixel architectures for multimodal 2D/3D imaging. Architectures based on lock-in or SPAD pixels for the depth-sensing, including rolling or global shutters for the RGB imager, based on monolithic or 3D integrations, with a depth-sensing pixel in place of a green pixel or a full Bayer, are considered. Leti is also in charge of the reconstruction of full colour images, i.e. interpolation of missing colour components, with edges details preservation and artefacts and noise reduction.
the simulation, design, and fabrication on 12-inch wafers of the optical stacks including microlenses (gapless, diffractive and inner microlenses) and filters for 3D and multi-modal innovative imagers fabricated during the project.
the exploration of new 3D integration schemes including Face-to-Back and the opportunity to include small dimension TSV connections of typically 1 µm in diameter.
the development of biometric identification neural network using RGB-Z sensor.
research activity related to the optimization of a silicon photonics integrated circuit making an optical phase array function for medium-range automotive Lidars.

the development of 1D and 2D MEMS micromirrors with a new kind of actuation for long-range automotive Lidars.

MAIN CONTACT

Alexis Rochas

alexis.rochas@cea.fr

+33 (0)4 38 78 54 92

http://www.leti-cea.com/

http://www-list.cea.fr

Leti location: Grenoble, France

List location: Saclay, France

Lucile Arnaud joined CEA-LETI in 1984. She first covered design and characterization of magnetic and electromagnetic passives devices. She then moved to studies in electromigration physics. She was first involved in Al interconnect reliability where her field of interest was failure analysis under pulsed current. For Cu interconnect reliability studies she was active in stress effects related to electromigration degradation. During this time, she also chaired European projects or subprojects for BEOL development. From 2007 to 2014, she was assigned at ST Microelectronics for interconnect reliability expertise of most advanced CMOS technology. Since 2014, she joined 3D-IC developments in LETI for technology expertise and projects managing. During the period, she has supervised PhD student works in the field of CMOS interconnects and authored and co-authored more than 90 papers including some invited talks and tutorials in IEEE conferences. She also participated to review committees of European and IEEE conferences (ESREF, IEEE-IITC, IEEE-IRPS, IEEE-IEDM…).

Stéphane Chevobbe received his Ph.D. degree in microelectronic and signal processing from the University of Rennes 1, Rennes, France, in 2005. From 2006 to 2009, he participated in several national and European Research Projects that lead to the realizations of the application specified integrated circuit and reconfigurable architectures for embedded systems. Since 2009, he has participated in the design of computing architectures for embedded vision applications. He is currently an Expert and a Research Engineer with the CEA LIST Institute, Saclay, France. His research interests include reconfigurable and programmable embedded architectures for vision processing. During the last 5 years, he is mainly involved in the design of a 3D stacked smart vision chip.

Laurent Mollard has graduated from the National Engineering School in Physics, Electronics, Materials Sciences, and received the M.Sc. degrees in Physic and Microelectronic engineering, from Grenoble INP Institute of engineering Univ. Grenoble Alpes in 1998. He is currently a project manager in the MEMS Actuators laboratory from the Silicon Components Department of the Technology research LETI institute, one of the institutes of the French Alternative and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA). He worked successively as a 200mm-Si Nanolithography process engineer, then as a Scientific Expert in the field of the Cooled Infra-Red detectors and finally as a project manager for the Display Laboratory, in the field of OLED and LED technologies. He is the author of more than twenty-five international journal articles, and co-inventor of fourteen patents. His interests include research and development in MEMS field and innovation project management.

Norbert Moussy received the Ph.D. degree in superconductivity effects and very low temperature instrumentation in Grenoble. Since 2001, he has been working with CEA-LETI on process integration of innovative imager structures and materials, such as backside illumination technology and InGaAs integration in silicon processes. Since 2013, he has been in charge of the development of single photon avalanche diode for time of flight imaging and 3-D-stacking integration on advanced integrated circuit.

Alexis Rochas holds a PhD degree of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (Switzerland) where he worked during 6 years on the development of single photon avalanche diodes (SPADs) and SPAD arrays fabricated in standard CMOS technology. In 2004, he joined the Swiss company ID Quantique SA. As R&D Manager of the Instrumentation Business Unit, he managed a team of engineers working on the development of single photon detectors for the visible and IR parts of the spectrum. He joined the CEA-LETI in November 2012 as Imaging Business Development Manager. He has published over 35 journal and conference papers and has received the 2004 scientific Omega prize for his work in the field of silicon-based single photon detectors. He has been involved in the VIZTA project definition and proposal writing and will bring its expertise in the field of SPADs.

Bertrand Szelag received the Master degree in Physics from the University of Lille in 1994 and the PhD degree in Microelectronics from the University of Grenoble in 1999. He has been a visiting researcher in Tohoku University in 1997 working in the field of sub-100nm CMOS transistor properties. In 1998 he joint Thomson Composants Specifiques. In 1999, he moved to STMicroelectronics to work on BiCMOS platfrom development for Analog/RF applications. He also developed devices for RF power applications. Since 2013, he has been with the LETI, MINATEC Institute, Grenoble, France as a Project Manager and senior process integration researcher in the field of silicon photonic devices. His current research activities included high-speed silicon modulator, germanium photodetectors and hybrid III-V laser integration in silicon. He is now the head of the silicon photonic laboratory of CEA-LETI. He is the author or co-author of more than 50 papers in scientific journals and international conference proceedings in the field of CMOS, Bipolar and DMOS transistors and silicon photonic devices.