Modélisation des structures nano-plasmoniques et photoniques. Applications aux phénomènes de filtrage et à la conception de capteurs bioplasmoniques

This work concerns the modeling and simulation by the finite difference method (FDTD) of plasmonic and photonic structures at the submicron scale. In the first part of the thesis we studied the propagation of electromagnetic-waves through two different dielectric nanoscale waveguides (made out of air and SiO2), sandwiched between two metallic plates (Metal-insulator-Metal). The excitation of surface plasmon-polariton at the interfaces of such waveguides enables light waveguiding at the subwavelength domain. We did study the waveguiding properties in the visible and near infrared ranges of frequency. Coupling of the main waveguide with a nano-resonator was investigated to achieve optical operations as filtering (in rejection and selection) and demultiplexing. These same optical functionalities have been studied in a submicron photonic structure constituted by waveguides of InP surrounded by air, coupled to several cavities. Such nano and microstructures are essential for the design of new all-optical integrated circuits. The second part of the thesis concerns modeling of electromagnetic-waves interaction with metallic (gold) nanoparticles deposited on a glass substrate (SiO2) and covered with a dielectric layer. These structures are promising for the conception of plasmonic nanosensors, which would be used to characterize small amount of biological molecules deposited on the dielectric layer surface. We have shown that the frequency of the plasmonic resonance of metallic particles exhibits an oscillatory variation with the thickness of the layer, with an amplitude reaching tens of nanometers. One investigated this phenomenon according to geometrical parameters of the gold particles and the refractive index of the dielectric layer covering the particles. The aim of such study is to understand how the physical and geometrical parameters influence the frequency range of the plasmonic resonance of the particles and the sensitivity of the nanosensor. This theoretical work was confronted with experimental results realized by Bio-interfaces team of IRI (Interdisciplinary institute of research, University of Lille 1).

Keywords: Modeling and simulation by the FDTD method, surface plasmon-polariton, nano-plasmonic and photonic structures, plasmons resonances of metallic nanoparticles.