Vincent Maurice

Sealing of hard CrN and DLC coatings with atomic layer deposition

Atomic layer deposition (ALD) is a thin film deposition technique that is based on alternating and saturating surface reactions of two or more gaseous precursors. The excellent conformality of ALD thin films can be exploited for sealing defects in coatings made by other techniques. Here the corrosion protection properties of hard CrN and diamond-like carbon (DLC) coatings on low alloy steel were improved by ALD sealing with 50 nm thick layers consisting of Al2O3 and Ta2O5 nanolaminates or mixtures. In cross sectional images the ALD layers were found to follow the surface morphology of the CrN coatings uniformly. Furthermore, ALD growth into the pinholes of the CrN coating was verified. In electrochemical measurements the ALD sealing was found to decrease the current density of the CrN coated steel by over 2 orders of magnitude. The neutral salt spray (NSS) durability was also improved: on the best samples the appearance of corrosion spots was delayed from 2 to 168 h. On DLC coatings the adhesion of the ALD sealing layers was weaker, but still clear improvement in NSS durability was achieved indicating sealing of the pinholes.

Microfabricated vapor cells filled with a cesium dispensing paste for miniature atomic clocks

A method for filling alkali vapor cells with cesium from a dispensing paste is proposed and its compliance with miniature atomic clock applications is evaluated. The paste is an organic-inorganic composition of cesium molybdate, zirconium-aluminum powder, and a hybrid organic-inorganic binder. It is compatible with collective deposition processes such as micro-drop dispensing, which can be done under ambient atmosphere at the wafer-level. After deposition and sealing by anodic bonding, cesium is released from the consolidated paste through local heating with a high power laser. Linear absorption signals have been observed over one year in several cells, showing a stable atomic density. For further validation of this technology for clock applications, one cell has been implemented in a coherent population trapping clock setup to monitor its frequency stability. A fractional frequency aging rate around –4.4 × 10−12 per day has been observed, which is compliant with a clock frequency instability below 1 × 10...

Laser light routing in an elongated micromachined vapor cell with diffraction gratings for atomic clock applications.

This paper reports on an original architecture of microfabricated alkali vapor cell designed for miniature atomic clocks. The cell combines diffraction gratings with anisotropically etched single-crystalline silicon sidewalls to route a normally-incident beam in a cavity oriented along the substrate plane. Gratings have been specifically designed to diffract circularly polarized light in the first order, the latter having an angle of diffraction matching the (111) sidewalls orientation. Then, the length of the cavity where light interacts with alkali atoms can be extended. We demonstrate that a longer cell allows to reduce the beam diameter, while preserving the clock performances. As the cavity depth and the beam diameter are reduced, collimation can be performed in a tighter space. This solution relaxes the constraints on the device packaging and is suitable for wafer-level assembly. Several cells have been fabricated and characterized in a clock setup using coherent population trapping spectroscopy. The measured signals exhibit null power linewidths down to 2.23 kHz and high transmission contrasts up to 17%. A high contrast-to-linewidth ratio is found at a linewidth of 4.17 kHz and a contrast of 5.2% in a 7-mm-long cell despite a beam diameter reduced to 600 μm.

Characterization of Cs vapor cell coated with octadecyltrichlorosilane using coherent population trapping spectroscopy

We report the realization and characterization using coherent population trapping (CPT) spectroscopy of an octadecyltrichlorosilane (OTS)-coated centimeter-scale Cs vapor cell. The dual-structure of the resonance lineshape, with presence of a narrow structure line at the top of a Doppler-broadened structure, is clearly observed. The linewidth of the narrow resonance is compared to the linewidth of an evacuated Cs cell and of a buffer gas Cs cell of similar size. The Cs-OTS adsorption energy is measured to be (0.42 ± 0.03) eV, leading to a clock frequency shift rate of 2.7 × 10−9/K in fractional unit. A hyperfine population lifetime, T1, and a microwave coherence lifetime, T2, of 1.6 and 0.5 ms are reported, corresponding to about 37 and 12 useful bounces, respectively. Atomic-motion induced Ramsey narrowing of dark resonances is observed in Cs-OTS cells by reducing the optical beam diameter. Ramsey CPT fringes are detected using a pulsed CPT interrogation scheme. Potential applications of the Cs-OTS cell ...

Recent Progress on the Preparation of Luminescent Silicon Nanoparticles for Bio‐Imaging Applications

: Luminescent silicon nanoparticles particles produced by laser pyrolysis are considered as possible alternative to replace toxic Quantum Dot in bioimaging applications. However, these nanoparticles are fully oxidized when kept in water, therefore, the luminescent silicon core must be be protected from oxidation. The Si nanoparticles were embedded in monodisperse silica beads (∼50 nm) produced in microemulsion. The silica beads provide protection of the silicon core and allow stability of the photoluminescence over time. They are well dispersed in water and biological medium with a colloidal stability of several days.

Microfabricated vapor cells for miniature atomic clocks based on post-sealing activated cesium dispensers

We report techniques based on cesium dispensers to fill microfabricated vapor cells for miniature atomic clocks applications. Two main types of dispensers are considered, which take the form of pills or paste. Whereas the pill contains a large quantity of Cs, the paste is more compatible with wafer-level fabrication. In both cases, the main advantage is the release of the cesium vapor only once the cell has been sealed, ensuring an optimal cell fabrication. Activation is thus performed through local heating of the dispenser with a laser. Cells using both dispenser types are shown to be compatible with atomic clocks requirements, namely a clock frequency instability below 1 × 10−11 at one day integration time.

DFT study of the interactions of Cl− with passivated Nickel surfaces: energetic and structural aspects

Abstract Density functional theory calculations of adsorption and penetration of chlorides on passivated nickel surfaces have been performed to investigate the mechanism of the breakdown of passivity and the localized attack of the substrate. The substitution of surface hydroxyl groups with chloride ions and the insertion of chloride in the first oxide layers were studied for structures with increasing Cl− surface coverage (25%, 50%, 75%, and 100%). In a first approximation, the relaxation of the four upper atomic layers was allowed only in the direction perpendicular to the surface. In order to evaluate the contribution of the in-plane relaxation of the atomic positions, full optimization of all the substituted and inserted structures have been investigated. While the full relaxation of the structures yielded no energy gain for the substitution step, a considerable gain was obtained for the optimized structure after insertion. An examination of the optimized structures shows a major reorganization in response to repulsive electrostatic interactions between adsorbed chloride ions at increasing chloride coverage. Depending on the coverage, the reorganized surface adopt local structure close to the structure of compounds as Ni(OH)Cl or NiCl2.