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The Minatec Centre for Micro and Nanotechnology Innovation was launched by CEA-Grenoble* and INPG at the beginning of 2000 (initially called the Micro and Nanotechnology Innovation Centre). It has now entered its operational phase, with major commitments and the first scientific and industrial results.
It is clearly important to keep local players and current or potential partners in France and abroad up to date with developments. We shall therefore be publishing a newsletter designed not only for digital professionals but also the public bodies, institutions and investors who have helped to bring the Minatec Innovation Centre into existence and contributed to its development.
The dynamic driving Minatec draws much of its energy from the exceptional scientific and technological environment of Grenoble, which makes it possible to set up a major international centre for innovation. This publication will consequently provide news of important events in the area, as well as companies and laboratories involved in micro and nanotechnology, highlighting new firms, moves, success stories and major investments.
The Minatec newsletter will also be published in French and in electronic form, on the minatec.com web site, which we urge you to visit, from July onwards, for regularly updated information. We should very much like to know your demands and hear your comments.

Yves Brunet,
Président de l'INP Grenoble
Jean Therme,
Directeur du CEA Grenoble

* CEA: French Atomic Energy Commission / INPG: National Polytechnical Institute in Grenoble

Minatec aims to become the main centre for micro and nanotechnology innovation in Europe. Grenoble is one the few places in the world to possess the scientific, technological and industrial means to achieve this objective.

The centre will also achieve its aims by developing cooperation networks and strategic alliances with complementary centres of excellence, elsewhere in France, in Europe and all over the world.
Minatec is expected to achieve the following results:
Boost French and European research, improving our competitive edge in strategic fields in a keenly competitive international environment.
Speed up and optimize the process of innovation by:
- bringing together in one place teaching facilities, upstream and applied research, support for innovation and industry,
- strengthening pluridisciplinary work, from technology to end users via software,
- encouraging bridges between the nanosciences and their potential applications,
- organizing partnerships and alliances with complementary centres of excellence in France and Europe but also in the United States and Asia.

Facilitate technology transfers to industry through various different channels - R&D contracts, joint laboratories, consortiums, startups and so on.
Set up initial and continuous training courses suited to the new demands of micro and nanotechnology - materials, technology, components, systems.
Attract students, researchers and top grade engineers to meet the growing demands of industry and research laboratories in France and Europe.
Instil new drive in Grenoble to strengthen the area's assets, by:
- drawing on the advanced Crolles 2 sub-0.1 micron, 300 mm microelectronics facility and the technological resources of CEA-Leti to reach the technical and physical limits of miniaturized microelectronics,
- while developing a centre of nanotechnology expertise and mobilizing interest in nanotechnology to research structures at a molecular and atomic level.

Less than a year after the project was first launched the first tangible results are visible, demonstrating the strength of the Minatec dynamic. Upstream research at the centre has been organized and reinforced. Cooperation networks have been set up with other centres of excellence in France and Europe.

Developing basic and applied research
Inception, spread over two years, of new laboratories (CEA, CNRS, INPG, UJF) specializing in nanomagnetism (SPINTEC), microfluidics and microphotonics.
In addition there is a project to set up an electronic microscopy laboratory in partnership with Minatec.
Contact: jpautrat@cea.fr
Start of joint applied research laboratories involving CEA-Leti Grenoble and leading industrial firms. MPO, STMicroelectronics and bioMérieux are among firms to have passed agreements announced by press release. These positive decisions have benefited from the dynamic and stream of investments generated by the Minatec Innovation Centre.
Contact: jfclerc@cea.fr

Initiating cooperation and strategic alliances
Nexus transfers its headquarters from Berlin to Grenoble and nurses global ambitions
The Nexus board, which met in Grenoble on
4 April 2001, has decided to transfer the network headquarter to Minatec, where it will join several other networks already based there - Jessica, RMNT, Eurimus and Euraccess. This decision demonstrates Minatec's drawing power, at a time when Nexus - which has enjoyed the support of the European Union since 1992 - has become a global organization gathering microsystem firms and labora tories. Nexus comprises more than 500 members in industry, research and academia. It has just published a road map which will serve as a guideline for microsystems products and technology.
Contact: NEXUS@cea.fr
CEA-Leti Grenoble and CSEM Neuchâtel join forces in micro and nanotechnology
CEA-Leti Grenoble (Europe's leading microelectronics research centre) and CSEM (Centre Suisse d'Electronique et de Microtechnique) in Neuchâtel have joined forces to attack the world market for micro and nanotechnology research.
With the framework agreement signed on 13 June 2001 (above) by Jean Therme (left) and Thomas Hinderling, the two research centres agreed to pool their complementary skills in microelectronics and microtechnology the better to achieve the critical mass and responsiveness that industry demands.The two entities are geographically close and have a great deal in common. Together they can line up about a thousand experts, investments totalling EUR 200 million, 10,000 sq m of clean room, top grade technology, and a joint offering for industrial undertakings and European research projects. Under the terms of the agreement, the two centres will share studies and strategic intelligence data and jointly decide on investment policy and off-shoots.
Though their skills are currently concentrated in the Alps, with the Minatec Innovation Centre in Grenoble and Neuchâtel's Microtechnology Centre (associated with Lausanne), the alliance between CSEM and CEA-Leti clearly has global ambitions. The two laboratories now plan to open a site in the US.
Contact : fclerc@cea.fr
Basic research with the Rhône-Alpes Region
Basic research focusing on objects on a nanometric scale, or nanophysics, is developing very rapidly in CNRS/UJF and CEA-Grenoble laboratories. Part of this research activity benefits from funding allocated under the Digital section of the regional development plan jointly funded by the French government and Rhône-Alpes. To an increasing extent upstream research is interacting with basic technology nanotechnology research.
Contact: vallier@labs.polycnrs-gre.fr
Networking basic technology research
CEA and CNRS are proposing a strategy for basic technology research, based on a nationwide network of major micro and nanotechnology platforms, linking Minatec in Grenoble, LAAS in Toulouse, IEMN in Lille and Pôle Ile de France Sud, south of Paris. In 1999, CEA-Grenoble, CNRS, INPG and INSA in Lyon started the Centre for Advanced Microelectronics (CPMA), which serves as an interface between CEA-Leti's Plato technology platform and French and European university research projects. Several other partners have recently joined CPMA: Ecole Centrale (Lyon), UJF Grenoble, French - L2MP, GPEC, ISEP, IMEP, CEMES-LAAS (in Toulouse) - and foreign laboratories - UC Louvain (Belgium) and EPFL (Switzerland). CPMA is a lightweight structure in which participating researchers remain affiliated to their home laboratories for administrative purposes. They simply join CPMA, on a full or part-time basis, for the duration of the project.
Contact: jfclerc@cea.fr and ghibaudo@enserg.fr

Fostering continuous training in microelectronics and microsystems
CEA and INP Grenoble are setting up a continuous training centre to cover all the relevant skills: design, technology, equipment, testing and working environment. This is a key component in the Minatec approach. It offers:
theoretical and practical training modules suited to the needs of industry, from first principles to the most advanced techniques;
a pool comprising the available experts and equipment - design tools, clean rooms and test equipment for real-life practical training courses.
The centre is already used by leading firms such as Alstom, Atmel, Soitec, STMicroelectronics and Thales.
Contact: chantal.tardif@cea.fr or tardif@cime.inpg.fr

'Micro and Nanotechnology Observatory on the watch
Since the end of 2000 the Micro and Nanotechnology Observatory (OMNT) has been providing clients in industry, research centres and startups with strategic intelligence services, and scientific and industrial property expertise.
The main topics are currently instrumentation for biology and molecular electronics. In the near future attention will also focus on materials and components for optics, smart devices and nanotechnology (components for transmission and remote power). The Observatory can draw on a network of 200 experts in research, working in CEA, CNRS and university laboratories.
Contact : christian.magnet@cea.fr

Just a few figures suffice to show the strategic importance of the Minatec project for research and industry in Grenoble and Europe as a whole.
Initial phase of project: 2001-2004 (instigated by CEA-Leti and INPG in March 2000).
Buildings covering 60,000 sq m will be built between now and the end of 2004 on 8 hectares belonging to Grenoble's scientific research centre, in the immediate vicinity of the town centre (connecting tram service), the TGV fast-train station, motorway access and CEA-Leti's existing facilities.
Grenoble's microelectronics, microtechnology and nanotechnology community currently accounts for 13,500 jobs and 200 establishments.
Specific investments worth almost FRF 1 billion are planned.
Additional clean rooms, covering 1,500 sq m, will be built at CEA-Leti (on top of the existing 7,000 sq m).
Ultimately 3,500 people will work at the centre.
Two engineering schools, belonging to the INPG group - Enserg, specializing in electronics and ENSPG, for physics - will be moving to the centre, as well as facilities for continuous training.
An industrial development platform will be built. It will comprise clean rooms open to startups, in their growth phase, joint laboratories and R&D teams from large companies.
Two specific buildings will house teams working on advanced components and smart devices.
The Micro-Nanotechnology Resource Centre, will provide Minatec and its partners with coordination, promotion and support services.

Soisic: design of Cmos-on-SOI integrated circuits
Soisic (Silicon On Insulator Systems and Integrated Circuits) came into existence at the end of April 2001. It specializes in the design of CMOS-on-SOI integrated circuits. Soisic also develops libraries of standard modules. The company was founded by two CEA engineers (Leti and DAM) who benefited from the services of the Grain regional incubator. Soisic has started with four jobs, but aims to increase its workforce to 20 within a year. Soisic's priority is to target IC foundries and integrators who both design and manufacture chips. Ultimately the company will produce its own circuits.
Contact: jlpelloie@cea.fr

Mems : Tronic's raises FRF 70 million
Tronic's, a CEA spinoff, started trading in 1997. It is the third Grenoble company to produce Mems and has just obtained almost FRF 70 million from four French investors to build a production facility. The plant, which will come on line in 2003, will have an annual capacity of 10,000 to 20,000 six inch wafers, employing about a hundred people, compared to the current workforce of 25 based in the existing factory inside the CEA-Leti perimeter. Tronic's aims to turn over in excess of FRF 300 million in 2004 with some 300 employees. It plans to raise an additional FRF 30 million at the end of this year. Tronic's customers include leading firms in telecommunications, healthcare and aeronautics, such as Synthélabo, Thales Avionics, Radiall or Debiotech (Switzerland). It has just signed an agreement with the latter for the supply of micropumps.
Contact : stephane.renard@tronics.fr

Apibio makes biochips for healthcare and industry bioMérieux-Pierre Fabre and CEA have joined forces to launch Apibio. It will develop, manufacture and market biochips, and miniature biological and biochemical analysis systems. Apibio will focus on developing biological tests for the healthcare sector and microbiological tests in industry. The company will be undertaking several innovative R&D programmes focusing on biochips. It will be managed by bioMérieux and located in Grenoble.

Specific devices used for Apibio biochips

Apibio is the result of continuing collaboration between bioMérieux SA and Affymetrix Inc. (USA), in the field of DNA chips, and with CEA, in microsystems for biology. Work has been based at a jointly operated laboratory located at CEA-Leti Grenoble.
Contact: marc.cuzin@cea.fr

A very active Micro and Nanotechnology Network in Rhône-Alpes
Little more than two years after being set up by the French Ministry of Research the Micro and Nanotechnology Research Network (RMNT) has already reviewed more than 90 cooperative projects, certifying 39 of them. The Rhône-Alpes region has played an active part in this process, for more than 40% of the projects and scientific or industrial players are based there. In addition, RMNT's executive office is located at CEA-Leti in Grenoble.
Contact: Claude.Sonrel@cea.fr - www.rmnt.org

Grenoble rises to the challenge of smart devices Smart devices straddle various technologies, markets and types of usage. The National Centre for Technology Research (CNRT), backed by the Regional Agency for the Development of Digital Industries (ARN), has initiated a development project to address the challenge of smart devices. This will involve bringing together industrial and scientific players, service companies and advanced users to favour the emergence of innovative market-oriented projects. The main topics are intelligent buildings, housebound people and telemedicine. Contact: Patrice.Senn@rd.francetelecom.fr

660 congressists at the Minatec 2001 conference From 2 to 6 April 2001, 660 congressists and speakers from France and abroad (Europe, North America and Asia) gathered in Grenoble to review scientific, technological and industrial advances in micro and nanotechnology. In the course of the week about 200 participants visited industrial facilities and science laboratories in the Grenoble area and many valuable contacts were made. The Minatec 2001 conference was such a success that plans are already being made for the next edition, in Grenoble, at the end of 2002. Contact :info@minatec.com - www.minatec.com

The Software Technology Centre (CTL) will bring together more than 100 researchers
The aim of the centre is to identify Grenoble's strongpoints in software technology, make the best use of them and encourage research-to-industry transfer. This will include training schemes addressing the latest software technologies. The centre will open in 2002 with room for over 100 researchers and engineers to work on technology platforms open to firms operating in this field. It will also serve as a vector for the multiple skills available in the Grenoble area. CTL is backed by Université Joseph Fourier, INPG, CNRS and its partners, in particular INRIA.
Each technology platform will be based on a scientific or industrial partner's specific know-how. Verimag has, for instance, set up a platform focusing on critical software design, in partnership with Schneider Electric, Thales, CEA-Leti and Telelogic. The MultiCom platform will draw on the skills of CLIPS researchers, specializing in advanced interaction technology and distributed perceptive environments.
Contact: Joseph.Sifakis@imag.fr

RADEC
10 to 14 September
Contact : www.radecs.org

MicroNano Engineering
16 to 19 September At Grenoble-Alpexpo Organized by CNRS and CEA-Leti
Contact : jemifrjp@aol.com

Phantoms
20 to 21 September At Grenoble-Atria Organized by CEA-Leti
Contact : JCGuibert@cea.fr