Cleanroom

A Unique Space for Innovation in Microelectronics in the Sud Region

Based in Gardanne on the Mines Saint-Étienne Aix-Marseille-Provence Campus, the cleanroom is a technology platform unique in France. Dedicated to research and teaching, it also hosts and supports industrial partners in carrying out their R&D projects and in the continuing education of their employees.

The cleanroom acts as a catalyst for the region, where the microelectronics sector is recognized as a “cluster of excellence” by the Aix-Marseille-Provence metropolis and as a “Regional Interest Operation” for the Sud Region.

At the heart of the second largest French semiconductor production hub, the clean room is a tool that supports the development of new products for local companies (from very small businesses to large groups, including ST Microelectronics and Thales).

The cleanroom also plays a central role in several key initiatives led by Mines Saint-Étienne, including I-Novmicro 1 & 2, aimed at expanding and promoting the microelectronics sector.

Covering an area of 700 m² — including 500 m² in class 10,000, 160 m² in class 1,000, and 40 m² in class 100 — the cleanroom hosts around one hundred pieces of cutting-edge equipment for R&D.

Cleanroom-Based Research

The cleanroom is an essential tool for research, enabling the development of tomorrow’s innovations. Half of the research teams from the Microelectronics Centre operate within the cleanroom, developing new devices across a variety of fields, including healthcare, energy, and industry.

The research activities of the Bioelectronics (BEL) department focus on developing sensors and actuators for healthcare. Whether these devices are implantable or non-invasive, on rigid or flexible substrates, these activities benefit from the cleanroom and its equipment pool for their design, fabrication, and characterisation, using microfabrication and printed electronics tools, as well as physicochemical characterisation methods.

David Moreau

Head of Bioelectronics Department

Thanks to the cleanroom infrastructure on the Aix-Marseille-Provence campus, our department is pushing the boundaries of hybrid, stretchable, and flexible electronics to develop devices directly connected to the Internet of Things. The application areas span all sectors of society, in connection with sensor networks (medical patches for patient monitoring, disposable sensors for the environment), advanced human–machine interfaces, etc. For example, we have developed flexible pressure sensors for biomedical monitoring, as well as, in another field, organic photovoltaic cells printed on flexible substrates, flexible microbatteries that are implantable and bioresorbable, etc. These achievements pave the way for groundbreaking applications in wearable technologies and renewable energy.

Thierry Djenizian

Head of the Centre of Microelectronics in Provence

Academic Training in the Cleanroom

Hands-on Experience with Cleanroom Technologies – ISMIN Programme

Midway through the 2nd year of the ISMIN program, the School offers students the opportunity to apply in practice the theoretical concepts covered in the common core curriculum (materials, physics, fundamental electronics, analog electronics, microcontrollers, signal processing…). This phase also allows them to acquire new skills specific to Cleanroom Technologies.

As part of this training, students can choose the “ECG-HMI” elective, which runs over a two-month period and enables them to:

To strengthen their ISMIN engineering expertise through the creation of practical demonstrators.
To acquire complementary skills in electronic systems related to their training, by carrying out practical work on design and manufacturing of semiconductor components in a clean room, applied to a Human-Machine Interface (HMI) demonstrator.

This educational approach combines theoretical learning with experimental implementation, reinforcing both knowledge and technical know-how.

Learn more about the Microelectronics and Computer Systems Engineering degree