TENOR aims to tackle a current lack of research into nonreciprocal phenomena at MIR and THz frequencies. For this it proposes foremost to prove the possibility of transposing towards this spectral range a recently demonstrated disruptive approach at visible and near infrared frequencies to generate very compact nonreciprocity, namely a plasmonic-enhanced magneto-optic one-way reflecting surface. The key target of TENOR is to realize by the end of the project an isolating device both for MIR and THz frequencies that delivers at least 20dB isolation over a sufficiently broadband (f > 0.1f0) range while keeping high forward transmissivity (< 1-2 dB insertion loss). TENOR will demonstrate as compact as possible devices, where possible in an integrated guided version. This imposes designs requiring a minimal external magnetic field (Bext = 0.1T) TENOR's motivation lies in the recent ICT and photonics research trend towards the exploitation of longer wavelengths. Both the mid- and long-wave infrared (10–150THz) and the terahertz spectral range (0.3–10 THz) contain the absorption lines of many chemical and molecular species. Moreover several low absorption atmospheric windows open up in both frequency ranges. One can therefore envision a wealth of important applications that are inaccessible at the “traditional” NIR telecom and ICT wavelengths. Precise chemical spectroscopy, non-ionizing imaging, environmental monitoring for hazardous substances using lidar, and ultrahigh bitrate THz free-space datacom are just a few of the diverse thematics that have emerged. A key enabling element has been the huge progress achieved in the performance of quantum cascade lasers (QCL). QCL's have revolutionized MIR and THz research with quasi off-the-shelf availability of reliable coherent sources of almost any chosen frequency between 1 – 100THz. In spite of all of the above there is presently not a single viable solution reported for two-port isolation or three-port circulation. The increasing system complexity of the reported applications makes their availability more and more urgent. For instance, precise spectroscopy using a tunable QCL becomes impossible under the slightest unintentional feedback into the source. At present the only way to protect a QCL from destabilizing feedback is by placing an absorber at its exit and thereby penalizing simultaneously its output power! TENOR aims thus at developing a competitive component with a presently unavailable but essential functionality for MIR and THz applications at almost all levels of society and everyday life. It will therefore potentially present a huge societal impact. To achieve this TENOR will follow a clear-cut methodology as it relies on a proven NIR concept and has two reliable proposals to realize the MIR and THz analogy of the demonstrated one-way MO plasmonic mirror. - small-gap, high mobility semiconductors (InAs) achieve simultaneously plasma frequencies and cyclotron frequencies in the MIR - hexaferrites can have ferromagnetic resonances at mm-wave frequencies, and therefore strong gyromagnetic properties well into the THz. Properly structuring a noble metal allows artificial spoof plasma frequencies in the THz range. Finally, as field-less time reversal breaking of Maxwell's equations receives currently great interest in high impact research journals, TENOR proposes also an exploratory entirely novel approach to generate THz/MIR isolation without the need for a magnetic field. TENOR builds upon the research expertise of its coordinator, who has specialized in the design, modeling and demonstration of optical nonreciprocal devices. His present institute hosts research groups that have established cutting edge expertise in resp. MIR and THz technology and epitaxy of high mobility III-V semiconductors. He will also rely on his longstanding partnership with the Physics group at the University of Ostrava (Czech Republic) who have great expertise in MO material characterization.

This project targets building a proposal for a H2020 FETOPEN- Research and Innovation Actions (FETOPEN1) call of the work programme 2016-2017. It consist in two main actions consisting, on the one hand, to complete and validate the consortium, based on pre-existing informal contacts, and, on the other hand, to write the proposal. The core network is based on two French partners, CNRS (including two laboratories, IEMN and IJL) and CEA-INES (LITEN/DTS) as well as a German partner, Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems. The targeted FETOPEN project will aim demonstrating the feasibility of a high efficiency solar cell which figure of merit in €/W should be ultimately in line with the crystalline silicon one. We will use an inorganic/inorganic tandem cell concept using earth abundant and nontoxic raw materials. Fabrication processes will be matched and up scalable to mass production. Today, such a tandem cell concept appears among the best solutions exhibiting cells with 30% and more efficiency. The approach is based on the use of a crystalline silicon bottom cell, in homo- and hetero-junction structure, since these technologies are already well established and display optimised efficiency values as well as stability and cost performance. The technological breakthrough is more particularly located in the development of a thin film technology for top cell using earth abundant materials. The Zn(Sn,Ge,Si)N2 material line is proposed since its bandgap energy is in perfect matching with silicon one for a tandem cell structure. It is a most challenging and exploratory material line, only a few American groups started to work on it. The second challenge will be to combine such a nitride cell with an usual silicon cell in a monolithic (2-terminal) tandem cell. Research will be devoted to the development of theoretical and experimental background on the different materials required for the top nitride cell, the design and fabrication of such a cell, the design of an optimum structure of tandem cell, including the mandatory tunnel junction, the fabrication of demonstrators and their characterization. The envisaged consortium will be composed of European partners with matched expertise allowing this multidisciplinary (material growth, modelling, cell design, cell fabrication and characterization among the main topics) problematic to be answered. Such a success will pave the way to develop a new high efficiency solar cell concept meeting cost and lifetime demands

The mathematical concept of topology applied to condensed matter has been very helpful to understand the transport properties of certain materials. This description was responsible for the discovery of new states of matter called topological insulators. These are insulating in the bulk of the material, but conducting at the edge. Their band structure is dominated by the spin-orbit interaction and is characterized by one or more topological invariants that distinguish them from traditional insulators. In two dimensions, they give rise to the quantum spin Hall effect and spin states are characterized by helical one-dimensional spin-polarized edge channels. The emergence of these new states of matter is a fundamental topic, but because of their spin properties, they could also have implications in spintronics. Similar concepts have led to the superconducting counterpart of topological insulators: topological superconductors. The topological character manifest itself in the excitation spectrum of the superconducting state and gives rise to quasiparticles analog to Majorana fermions. Majorana particle is known to be its own antiparticle, have no charge or spin and are therefore very well isolated from the environment and are ideal for storing quantum information. The existence of Majorana fermions was predicted and intensely studied in particle physics but this quest was unsuccessful. The experimental realization of topological superconductivity in superconductor-semiconductor hybrid structures allowed to reproduce the experimental conditions for the creation of Majorana fermions and the first experimental signatures in transport was obtained recently. Since then, the search around the Majorana fermions has become a major theme in condensed matter physics. However, most of these theoretical predictions about these excitations have not received any experimental confirmations. While traditional methods of characterization of materials such as ARPES or STM have convincingly shown the existence of topological insulators and topological superconductors, the few experimental signatures obtained in transport are the subject of discussions in our community. The main sticking point is related to the low crystalline quality materials available. To use topological insulators in electronic circuits and make the most of their unique structure of bands, a major effort is nowadays devoted to optimize the growth of materials with strong spin-orbit. We have assembled a consortium with strong expertise in the fields of topological superconductivity, semiconductor-superconductor hybrid structures and growth of materials with strong spin-orbit coupling. We propose initially to optimize the growth of two recently identified material for their extremely important spin-orbit coupling compared to traditional semiconductor materials (GaAs, Si) nanowires based on germanium (Ge) and quantum wells based of antimonide (GaSb) and arsenide (InAs). We intend to highlight clearly and study the helical spin states. In a second step, we will use these developments to integrate these components in nanoelectronic superconductor-semiconductor hybrid circuits. The expected high quality of the semiconductor structures developed in our consortium will then allow us to demonstrate the unique properties of Majorana fermion excitations predicted theoretically but so far with no experimental demonstrations.

Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) is now a common tool for material analysis in both academic and industrial areas because it enables non-destructive high resolution images at the nanoscale. However, the available sensors face strong limitations in liquids, making the use of AFM on living material like proteins or cells still a challenge. Thanks to our recent breakthroughs in MEMS sensors technology, we propose to extend the AFM potential to in vitro imaging of biological objects. Targeting beyond the academic applications, our goal is to establish a marketable force imaging technique for creating and addressing new instrumentation markets from biology and life sciences to medical analysis. The project will focus on microsystems integration for increasing performances and demonstrating user-friendly bio-imaging. The objectives of the present proposal are: (i) verifying the innovation potential of capitalized technology by pushing higher performances MicroSystems-Probes to a demonstration stage, (ii) assessing reliability versus technological choices, (iii) generating an extended portfolio from the pre-existing IP. Expected outcomes lie in the consolidation of information making possible to take strategic decisions and launch a start-up company.