This series of lectures covered a wide range of processes for the production of colloids, sols and particles in a variety of shapes, as well as surface coatings, via the elaboration of thick films, thin films and even superlattices. It has provided an essential knowledge platform for a wide range of industrial applications. Due to time constraints, we limit ourselves to three illustrative examples dealing with i) concentration gradient particles for battery electrodes, ii) concentration index gradient optical fibers and iii) the scientific path from Si rod to microprocessor.
As far as batteries are concerned, we illustrate the advantages of concentration gradient particles, developed using a combination of soft chemistry/ceramic methods, in terms of lifetime and cycling, and show that this type of particle is currently highly coveted for the next generation of lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles. The second example looks at the history of optical fibers and the physics behind them, before going on to describe the three stages involved in their manufacture: preforming, drawing and cladding. Among the various manufacturing methods, we distinguish between chemical vapor deposition (MCVD) and axial vapor deposition (AVD). We illustrate how the contribution of solid-state chemistry to the formulation of glasses with variable refractive indices, as well as to vapor deposition processes, has enabled the development of unimodal or polymodal light-conducting fibers through which information is transmitted, revolutionizing the way we communicate and interact today.
This panorama of applications ends with the transition from the grain of sand to the microprocessor, the heart of electronics. To do this, we recall the two key moments in the world of electronics: i) the creation in 1946 of the first computer ENIAC(electronic numerical integrator and computer) and ii) the realization in 1947 of the first transistor, as well as the rudimentary basics of transistor physics, before moving on to their manufacture. This includes the transition from sand to polycrystalline silicon, then to Si crystals, which are then cut to obtain wafers that serve as a platform for the construction of integrated circuits via microlithography, which can be defined as a repetition of deposition or even electrodeposition, protection, exposure, doping and etching steps. We insist on mastering these manufacturing processes, which should enable us to produce microprocessors containing 7 billion transistors by 2016.
