Organics electronics

Prims

The PRIMS (PRInted Microelectromechanical Systems) team designs and produces printed microsystems. The team’s skills cover the fields of component design, characterisation, modelling and application.
The applications currently targeted are chemical detection in a gaseous medium, chemical detection in a liquid medium, characterisation of the electromechanical and mechanical properties of materials (liquids and solids), biomimicry, non-destructive testing and vibratory energy recovery.

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Prims team

Presentation of the organics electronics research activities of the PRIMS team

The PRIMS team is part of the Electronics and Organic Microsystems group (called ORGANICS in the IMS organization chart), created in June 2012. The ambition of the PRIMS team is to design, print, characterise and optimise Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) made of essentially organic or hybrid materials. The approach adopted enables the majority of components to be produced using simple technological processes that are developed within the IMS (COMPONENTS Platform). The PRIMS team’s skills enable it to cover the entire MEMS component value chain: from the design of components to their application, including their manufacture, characterisation and modelling. To do this, the PRIMS team applies a multidisciplinary approach, in particular with various chemical colleagues, in order to propose state-of-the-art microsystems integrating innovative materials

Illustration_PRISM

PRIMS focuses on the following functions:

  • Piezoelectric, electrostrictive, electromagnetic, thermomechanical and electrostatic actuation
  • Piezoresistive, piezoelectric, electrostrictive, piezotransistive and capacitive transduction
  • Functionalisation for chemical and biological detection, particularly using biomimetic materials

The targeted applications are currently chemical detection in gaseous environments, chemical detection in liquid environments, characterisation of the electromechanical and mechanical properties of materials (liquids and solids), biomimetics, structural health monitoring and energy harvesting.

The PRIMS team is a member of the Renatech + and the Very Large Research Infrastructure (TGIR) in micro and nanofabrication. The team’s work on polymer MEMS is recognised as a national speciality.

 

PRIMS teams skills

Design and development

Modelling

Characterisation

Partners

Collaborations and partners

For the various research projects underway, the IMS Bordeaux laboratory and its teams rely on strong partnerships and collaborations, which allow for the creation of a synergy of strengths and a sharing of technical and human resources

Academic_Partners

Laboratories

Industrials_partners

Companies

Universita_di_Genova_logo

University of Genova

BioCruces_logo

BioCruces, Bilbao

Université_Arkansas-logo

University of Arkansas

News

Latest news from the team

THESIS DEFENSE of Ewen RAOUL - November 6, 2025

Ewen RAOUL will defend his thesis on November 6, 2025 at 10:30am in the amphitheater of the LABRI, on the subject: Printed flexible piezoelectric transducers for non destructive testing.

TEAM

Mini-Invasive Surgery (MIS) is advancing with electroactive polymer (EAP) actuators; the TEAM consortium develops multilayer composites using P(VDF-TrFE-CTFE), optimizing printing, digital twins, and 3D motion for integration into next-generation surgical tools. This collaboration between PIMM, IMS, ARKEMA, SYROBO, and TENON Hospital aims to raise technology readiness levels and enable innovative medical applications.

DE-TECT

The DE-TECT project proposes to reconsider the architecture and photodetector materials in order to meet societal expectations in term of sustainability of material resources, energy consumption and end of life electronic device wastes. We propose to use bio-sourced and bio-degradable materials as well as printing techniques for the realization of photodetectors. These severe constraints impose to change the materials, the design and the architecture of the devices as well as the metrology. The DE-TECT project propose a capacitive detection using an active substrate that drastically simplifies the technological process and allows the use of more than 95% of bio-sourced materials

THROMBOSENSE

Venous Thromboembolic Events (VTE) are life-threatening, responsible for up to 12% of annual European deaths, with many cases lacking identifiable causes, making recurrence hard to predict. The Thrombosense project will develop a vein-on-a-chip with mimetic vessels and sensors to probe hypercoagulability in real time, offering breakthrough diagnostics.

DETOX

The project develops advanced ultrasound inspection systems for SHM. Instead of toxic, rigid PZT ceramics, it uses flexible, lead-free P(VDF-TrFE) polymer transducers. These are optimized through AI-based multiphysics simulations and innovative printing techniques. Two detection methods are tested: direct wave-defect interaction and reverberated acoustic fields. Validation will take place on an Airbus A380 nacelle and a hydrogen tank.

MIGNON

The MIGNON project develops a generic gas detection system without sensitive layers, using silicon resonant MEMS (microcantilevers and CMUTs) to measure physical properties of gases. This more reliable and reversible method targets leakage detection of industrial gases (O₂, N₂, H₂, CH₄, CO₂, He) and also includes silicon carbide MEMS for harsh environments.

Members

Staff

Meet the members of the research team

Cédric AYELA
Sara BEAUQUIS
Nadia BENCHAREF
Thinhinane BESSAD
Christopher CASTRO CHAVARRIA
François DANZÉ
Hélène DEBEDA
Isabelle DUFOUR
Grégoire FORGES
Getnet KASSAHUN
MARTIAL LEYNEY
Lohit NAIK
Toky-Harrison RABENIMANANA
Ewen RAOUL
Bharath SOMALAPURA PRAKASHA
Damien THUAU
Rémi VERGUIN
Sara ZANCHI
Résumé en français

L’équipe PRIMS, composée de quatre membres permanents et une dizaine d’étudiants en thèse et post-doctorat, conçoit et réalise des microsystèmes imprimés, avec un intérêt particulier pour les microsystèmes électromécaniques (MEMS). Elle s’appuie pour cela sur la plateforme Composants du laboratoire IMS. Les applications visées sont la détection chimique en milieu gazeux, la détection chimique en milieu liquide, la caractérisation des propriétés électromécaniques et mécaniques des matériaux (liquides et solides), le biomimétisme, le contrôle non destructif et la récupération d’énergie. L’équipe PRIMS adopte une approche pluridisciplinaire à travers plusieurs projets collaboratifs locaux, nationaux et internationaux.

L’équipe PRIMS est membre du réseau Rénatech +, Très Grande Infrastructure de Recherche (TGIR) en micro et nanofabrication. Les travaux de l’équipe sur les MEMS polymères y sont reconnus comme spécificité nationale.

Contact our team

If you have a request or questions about the laboratory, please contact our team.