Les fibres optiques dont on façonne la réponse spectrale incorporent des ions luminescents, des ions de terres rares (TR), dans des nanoparticules (NP) formées in situ dans un verre de silice par séparation de phase. Cette ingénierie nécessite de comprendre le lien entre la composition des NP et l’environnement des TR.En Dynamique Moléculaire, les potentiels interatomiques existants pèchent à reproduire la séparation de phase observée expérimentalement. Le mélange xMgO-(1-x)SiO2 présente un domaine où coexistent deux phases mixtes, riche en Mg ou en Si. Une telle séparation de phase ne se modélise qu’avec un potentiel interatomique prenant en compte la ionicité des liaisons, réalisé ici par l’ajustement des charges des Oxygène selon l’environnement local. Ce modèle adaptatif, transférable, permet de suivre pour la 1ère fois la formation de NP amorphes de quelques nm. Mixtes et riches en Mg, elles se séparent d’une matrice riche en Si.Le dopage TR (Er3+ ou Eu3+) montre que leur voisinage dépend de la taille des NP les contenant : plus les NP sont grosses, plus les fractions de TR et de Mg augmentent. Ce voisinage riche en Mg permet à ces TR d’augmenter leur coordinence en Oxygène et elles n’ont plus besoin de s’agréger entre elles pour satisfaire cette tendance naturelle.Une simulation de l’étirage à chaud d’un verre de silice confirme l’existence d’une anisotropie dans la fibre optique, venant de l’orientation persistante des petits anneaux de silice, et se manifeste par une anisotropie élastique. Les effets que ces conditions extrêmes induisent sur les NP seront étudiés ultérieurement.La mise en œuvre d'un modèle de champ cristallin corrélera les modifications de l'environnement des TR avec leur réponse spectrale. / Optical fibers with tailored spectral response are doped with luminescent ions, rare-earth ions (re), embedded in nanoparticles (np) formed in situ in silica glass through a phase separation process. This engineering requires to understand the relation between the np composition and the re environment. In molecular dynamics, the existing interatomic potentials fail to reproduce the phase separation as experimentally observed. The system xmgo-(1-x)sio2 exhibits a domain inside of which two mixed phases coexist, mg-rich either si-rich. Such a phase separation can only be modeled by an interatomic potential that takes into account bond ionicity, and the transferability isEnabled here by the adaptation of oxygen charges according to the local environment. This adaptive model allows for the 1st time to track the formation of amorphous np of few nanometers. Mixed and mg-rich, they separate from a si-rich matrix. The re doping (er3+ or eu3+) shows that re environment depends on the size of the containing np: the bigger it is, the more the proportions of embedded re and mg increase. Thus, this mg-rich environment enables re ions to increase their oxygen coordination and to no more aggregate to each other to satisfy this natural trend. A simulation of the high-temperature drawing of silica-glass confirms the existence of an anisotropy in optical fiber, explained by the persistent orientation that small silica rings acquire in this fiber, and manifests itself by an elastic anisotropy. The nontrivial effects induced on np by these extreme conditions of temperature and stress can be studied later. The crystal-field model can be used to correlate the changes of the re environment with their spectral response.

This thesis studies different Eu optical centers in MgS:Eu and CaS:Eu thin films produced by Chemically Controlled Pulse Laser Deposition (CCPLD) and evaluates their suitability for the development of spectral storage devices of the future. The produced thin films consist of one or more optically active layer(s), MgS:Eu, CaS:Eu or a similar material, and a corresponding ZnS capping layer that functions as a protecting barrier for the other layers and preserves their composition and integrity. Given that the synthesis of the materials used to produce the multilayer structures in this work proved a great challenge, careful attention was given to the optimization of all fabrication parameters. Mass Spectrometry was used during the deposition of the thin films and the data obtained resulted on improvements and optimization of the deposition process. Scanning electron microscopy studies of these thin films were conducted to study degradation upon long-term storage. Microscopy results show that the morphology of the produced thin films is correlated to the growth environment during deposition and deterioration of the deposited materials could be initiated by nano-gaps and cracks in the capping layer of the thin films. In addition to optical centers in MgS:Eu and CaS:Eu, new centers were created by changing the thin film growth environment inside a hi-vacuum chamber, modifying the composition of the ablation target material, or both. For example, introducing O2, or alternatively HCl, inside the CCPLD chamber while producing MgS:Eu thin films results in the formation of impurity associated centers across lattice sites throughout the deposited structures. In another method of impurity doping studied, Cl- and Na+ were introduced into the MgS:Eu and CaS:Eu lattices by mixing trace amounts of the impurity ions into these materials in polycrystalline form and making this mixture a deposition target by hi-pressure cold compression technique. The introduction of these impurity ions will alter the crystal field environment around the Eu ions thus creating new optical centers with a shift in energy of their characteristic Zero Phonon Line. After extensive characterization of the optical properties of the thin films produced, laser-induced fluorescence spectroscopy and absorption spectroscopy measurements confirm that they are suitable candidates to be used in conjunction with power-gated spectral holeburning technique and could potentially provide ultrahigh, terabits per square inch, storage densities. / Physics