La photonique intégrée offre la possibilité d’exploiter un vaste bouquet de phénomènes optique nonlinéaires pour la génération et le traitement de signaux optiques sur des puces très compactes et à des débits potentiels extrêmement rapides. De nouvelles solutions et technologies de composants pourraient être ainsi réalisées, avec un impact considérable pour les applications télécom et datacom. L’utilisation de phénomènes optiques nonlinéaires (e.g. effet Kerr optique, effet Raman) permet même d’envisager la réalisation de composants actifs (e.g. amplificateurs, modulateurs, lasers, régénérateurs de signaux et convertisseurs en longueur d’onde).Pendant cette dernière décennie, les efforts ont principalement porté sur la plateforme Silicium sur isolant (SOI), profitant du fort confinement optique dans ce matériau, qui permet la miniaturisation et intégration de composants optiques clés (e.g. filtres passifs, jonctions coupleurs et multiplexeurs). Cependant, la présence de fortes pertes nonlinéaires dans ce matériau aux longueurs d’onde d’intérêt (i.e. autour de 1.55 µm dans les télécommunications) limite certaines applications pour lesquelles une forte réponse nonlinéaire est nécessaire et motive la recherche de nouvelles plates-formes, mieux adaptées. L’objectif premier de cette thèse était ainsi l’étude de matériaux alternatifs au Si cristallin, par exemple le silicium amorphe hydrogéné, alliant de très faibles pertes nonlinéaires et une compatibilité CMOS, pour la réalisation de dispositifs photoniques intégrés qui exploitent les phénomènes nonlinéaires. Alternativement, l’utilisation de longueurs d’onde plus élevées (dans le moyen-IR) permet de relaxer la contrainte sur le choix de la filière matériau, en bénéficiant de pertes nonlinéaires réduites, par exemple dans la filière SiGe, également explorée dans cette thèse. Ce travail est organisé de la façon suivante. Le premier chapitre donne un iii panorama des phénomènes nonlinéaires qui permettent de réaliser du traitement tout-optique de l’information, en mettant en évidence les paramètres clés à maitriser (confinement optique, ingénierie de dispersion) pour les composants d’optique intégrée, et en présentant le cadre de modélisation de ces phénomènes utilisé dans le travail de thèse. Il inclut également une revue des démonstrations marquantes publiées sur Silicium cristallin, donnant ainsi des points de référence pour la suite du travail. Le chapitre 2 introduit les cristaux photoniques comme structures d’optique intégrée permettant d’exalter les phénomènes nonlinéaires. On s’intéresse ici aux cavités, avec une démonstration de génération de deuxième et troisième harmoniques qui exploite un design original. Ce chapitre décrit également les enjeux associés à l’utilisation de guides à cristaux photoniques en régime de lumière lente, qui serviront de fondements pour le chapitre 4. Le chapitre 3 présente les résultats de caractérisation de la réponse nonlinéaire associée à des guides réalisés dans deux matériaux alternatifs au silicium cristallin : le silicium amorphe hydrogéné testé dans le proche infrarouge et le silicium germanium testé dans le moyen infrarouge. Le modèle présenté au chapitre 1 est exploité pour déduire la réponse de ces deux matériaux, et il est même étendu pour rendre compte d’effets nonlinéaires d’ordre plus élevé dans le cas du silicium germanium à haute longueur d’onde. Ce chapitre inclut également une discussion sur la comparaison des propriétés nonlinéaires de ces deux matériaux avec le SOI standard. Le chapitre 4 combine l’utilisation d’une plate-forme plus prometteuse que le SOI, avec des structures photoniques plus avancées que les simples guides réfractifs utilisés au chapitre 3 : il décrit l’ingénierie de modes (lents) dans des guides à cristaux photoniques en silicium amorphe hydrogéné et enterrés dans la silice. [...] / Integrated photonics offers a vast choice of nonlinear optical phenomena that could potentially be used for realizing chip-based and cost-effective all-optical signal processing devices that can handle, in principle, optical data signals at very high bit rates. The new components and technological solutions arising from this approach could have a considerable impact for telecom and datacom applications. Nonlinear optical effects (such as the optical Kerr effect or the Raman effect) can be potentially used for realizing active devices (e.g. optical amplifiers, modulators, lasers, signal regenerators and wavelength converters). During the last decade, the silicon on insulator (SOI) platform has known a significant development by exploiting the strong optical confinement, offered by this material platform, which is key for the miniaturization and realization of integrated optical devices (such as passive filters, splitters, junctions and multiplexers). However, the presence of strong nonlinear losses in the standard telecom band (around 1.55 µm) prevents some applications where a strong nonlinear optical response is needed and has motivated the research of more suitable material platforms. The primary goal of this thesis was the study of material alternatives to crystalline silicon (for instance hydrogenated amorphous silicon) with very low nonlinear losses and compatible with the CMOS process in order to realize integrated photonics devices based on nonlinear optical phenomena. Alternatively, the use of longer wavelengths (in the mid-IR) relaxes the constraints on the choice of the material platform, through taking advantage of lower nonlinear losses, for instance on the SiGe platform, which is also explored in this thesis. This work is organized as follows. In the first chapter we provide an overview of the nonlinear optical effects used to realize all optical signal processing functions, focusing on the key parameters that are essential (optical confinement and dispersion engineering) for integrated optical components, and presenting the main models used in this thesis. This chapter also includes a review of the main demonstrations reported on crystalline silicon, to give some benchmarks. Chapter 2 introduces the use of photonic crystals as integrated optical structures that can significantly enhance nonlinear optical phenomena. First we present photonic crystal cavities, with a demonstration of second and third harmonic generation that makes use of an original design. In the second part of the chapter, we describe the main features and challenges associated with photonic crystal waveguides in the slow light regime, which will be used later in chapter 4. In chapter 3, we report the experimental results related to the characterization of the optical nonlinear response of integrated waveguides made of two materials that are alternative to crystalline silicon : the hydrogenated amorphous silicon, probed in the near infrared, and the silicon germanium, probed in the mid-infrared. The model presented in chapter 1 is extensively used here for extracting the nonlinear parameters of these materials and it is also extended to account for higher order nonlinearities in the case of silicon germanium tested at longer wavelengths. This chapter also includes a comparison of the nonlinear properties of these two material platforms with respect to the standard SOI. In chapter 4, we combine the use of a material platform that is better suited than SOI for nonlinear applications with integrated photonics structures that are more advanced that those used in chapter 3. Here we describe the design of (slow) modes in photonic crystal waveguides made in hydrogenated amorphous silicon fully embedded in silica. [...]

MgxZn1-xO has emerged as a material of great technological importance. Having a direct energy band gap that is tunable throughout much of the ultraviolet (UV) region of the spectrum from the near-UV (~370 nm) to the deep-UV (~176 nm), this compound is of interest for a variety of optoelectronic devices operating in this part of the electromagnetic spectrum. MgxZn1-xO offers advantages over the more mature compound semiconductor AlGaN which stem mainly from the unusually high exciton binding energy (60 meV in ZnO). In this study the growth of ZnO and MgxZn1-xO thin films using metal organic chemical vapour deposition (MOCVD) is systematically investigated. The films are mainly grown on c-Al2O3 and Si (100) and characterized using various techniques, such as photoluminescence (PL), x-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and auger electron spectroscopy (AES). The optical and the structural properties are essentially inspected in order to improve their quality. In this thesis the optimisation of ZnO grown using oxygen gas as a new oxidant in our reactor is investigated. The growth temperature and VI/II ratio are varied in order to find optimum parameters giving high quality layers. The effects of Si (100), Si (111), c- and r-sapphire, glass, GaAs and ZnO substrates on the optical, structural and morphological properties of ZnO thin films grown with tert-butanol (TBOH) is examined. Similar morphologies are observed for all substrates, with the films comprising hexagonal columns having cone shaped ends. The photoluminescence spectra are similar, but the various transitions have different relative intensities. It is clear that the different substrates influence neither the orientation of the films, nor the surface morphology, significantly. The photoluminescence hints at larger stacking fault densities in films grown on silicon and glass, however, as evidenced by stronger basal plane stacking fault-related luminescence at ~3.319 eV in the relevant low temperature photoluminescence spectra. The morphology changes with Mg incorporation, from hexagonal columnar structures to cubic faceted columns. From PL, the full with at half maximum is found to gradually increase with Mg content due to alloy broadening. The deep level emission (DLE) is observed to shift with Mg content. By changing the Mg content, the band gap of MgxZn1-xO film is tuned by ~450 meV, which provides an excellent opportunity for band gap engineering for optoelectronic applications. The c-lattice constant of ZnO (5.205 Å) decreases by only 0.6% when the Mg content reaches x=0.39. The introduction of Mg into ZnO is shown to increase the relative PL intensity of stacking fault-related transitions (at 3.314 eV for ZnO). This becomes the dominant near band edge emission. Using TEM a thin Mg rich layer is observed at the interface between the film and the Si or Al2O3. Temperature dependent PL measurements on layers with low Mg concentration (x=0.05 and 0.1) show that the main bound exciton peak exhibits an “s-shaped” temperature dependence, characteristic of localization in a disordered alloy. The origin of the PL line broadening of MgxZn1-xO (x≤0.04) is also analyzed with respect to alloy broadening, taking into account a random cation distribution and alloy clustering. The influence of various MOCVD growth parameters such as growth temperature and VI/II ratio is studied. Varying the temperature from 280 ˚C to 580 ˚C reveals strong morphological changes and optical degradation of the films. Low (<280 ˚C) and high (>580 ˚C) growth temperatures reduce the Mg incorporation. High VI/II ratios also decrease the Mg incorporation, as evidenced by the red-shift of the donor bound exciton (D°X) line. This is ascribed to a stronger premature reaction between (MeCp)2Mg and the oxidant or a preferential heterogeneous interaction between the Mg and oxygen species on the growth front. For both oxidizing agents (O2 and TBOH), the growth at 420 ˚C and a VI-II ratio of 60 on c-Al2O3 gave optimal quality layers in terms of their optical and structural quality. A comparison of films grown using TBOH and O2 gas as oxidizing agent shows no major difference in terms of Mg incorporation. The effect of annealing, the inclusion of a buffer layer and the influence of growth rate on the properties MgxZn1-xO thin films are also reported.

Swept Frequency Source Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) requires high repetition rate and wide spectral width wavelength tunable sources at a low cost. The sampled grating distributed Bragg reflector (SG-DBR) laser provides wide wavelength tuning range while exhibiting a wavelength switching speed that is among the fastest currently available. The SG-DBR laser is used to generate linear frequency ramps with high repetition rates. Since the SG-DBR laser is currently used for the telecommunications industry in high volume, the price of the system is much lower than current OCT sources. Therefore the SG-DBR laser provides a practical solution for Swept Source OCT. Four synchronized waveforms sent to the inputs of the laser control the linear frequency ramp. Three of the waveforms control the output frequency, while the fourth waveform controls the output amplifier of the laser to keep the output power stable. Two SG-DBR lasers with overlapping wavelength coverage are also concatenated to increase the bandwidth of the swept frequency source. The linear ramp stitching points in the frequency ramps are investigated and methods are outlined to reduce them. Finally, experimental OCT tests are performed using the swept frequency sources created to analyze the linearity of our sources. From these test results, an evaluation can be made on the specifications and capabilities of the swept frequency sources and analyze their value for OCT applications.

III-V nitrides have been put to use in a variety of applications including laser diodes for modern DVD devices and for solid-state white lighting. Plasmonics has come to the foreground over the past decade as a means for increasing the internal quantum efficiency (IQE) of devices through resonant interaction with surface plasmons which exist at metal/dielectric interfaces. Increases in emission intensity of an order of magnitude have been previously reported using silver thin-films on InGaN/GaN MQWs. the dependence on resonant interaction between the plasmons and the light emitter limits the applications of plasmonics for light emission. This dissertation presents a new non-resonant mechanism based on electrostatic interaction of carriers with induced image charges in a nearby metallic nanoparticle. Enhancement similar in strength to that of plasmonics is observed, without the restrictions imposed upon resonant interactions. in this work we demonstrate several key features of this new interaction, including intensity-dependent saturation, increase in the radiative recombination lifetime, and strongly inhomogeneous light emission. We also present a model for the interaction based on the aforementioned image charge interactions. Also discussed are results of work done in the course of this research resulting in the development of a novel technique for strain measurement in light-emitting structures. This technique makes use of a spectral fitting model to extract information about electron-phonon interactions in the sample which can then be related to strain using theoretical modeling.

From a very general perspective, optical devices can be viewed as constructions based on the spatial engineering of the optical index of refraction. Sculpting the real part of the refractive index produces the wide variety of known passive optical devices, such as waveguides, resonators, gratings, among a plethora of other possibilities for managing the transport of light. Less attention has been directed to engineering the imaginary part of the refractive index – that is responsible for optical gain and absorption – in conjunction with the real part of the refractive index. Optical gain is the building block of amplifiers and lasers, while optical absorption is exploited in photovoltaic devices, photodetectors, and as dopants in lasing media. Recently, the field of non-Hermitian photonics has emerged in which the new opportunities afforded by the spatial engineering of the optical gain and loss in an optical device are being exploited. Indeed, the judicious design of such active devices can result in counterintuitive physical effects, new optical functionalities that enable unexpected applications, and enhanced performance of existing devices. In this work, we have theoretically and experimentally demonstrated four different non-Hermitian arrangements exhibiting novel non-trivial features. First, we show that the direction of energy flow can be controlled inside an active cavity by tuning the optical gain. Reversing the direction of the energy flow within the cavity – such that Poynting's vector points backwards towards the source – takes place when the cavity gain exceeds a certain threshold value, which we have named 'Poynting's threshold'. To realize this effect, we have employed a fiber-based arrangement that allows for unambiguous determining of the direction of the energy flow within the cavity. Second, we have studied the implication of Poynting's threshold with respect to spectral reflection from an active cavity. Surprisingly, the reflection at Poynting's threshold becomes spectrally flat and is guaranteed to attain unity reflectivity while maintaining non-zero transmission. In other words, at Poynting's threshold, the cavity becomes a 'transparent perfect mirror'. We have realized this effect in an on-chip active waveguide device and in an optical-fiber-based system. Third, we have examined a parity-time (PT) symmetric fiber-based cavity consisting of two coupled sub-cavities, one of which contains gain and the other loss. In contrast to all previous on-chip PT-symmetric micro-devices, the exotic features of such a system may be expected to vanish when the length of the cavity is extremely large (exceeding 1 km in our experiments) due to the strong fluctuations in the optical phase. Nevertheless, we have found that some of the central features of such a system survive; e.g., loss-induced enhancement of lasing power is still observable. Finally, we have demonstrated – for the first time – the interferometric perfect absorption of light in a weakly absorbing (erbium-doped) fiber system. Additionally, we verified that this coherent effect is the most efficient configuration with respect to utilizing the absorbing species in the medium.

The solid-state laser is one of the most widely used lasers in scientific research and industrial applications. This thesis describes detailed investigations of two modern architectures of high power cw solid-state lasers, a 20 W diode-pumped Yb:YAG thin disc laser and 300 W diode-pumped Nd:YAG rod laser. With the thin disc laser architecture, the signal beam must fit to the pump area on the disc defined by the multi-pass diode pump configuration. The beam propagation, beam diameter, phase and thermal effects for various cavity configurations are investigated theoretically and experimentally. In addition, the internal loss, small signal gain, and thermal lensing effect are essential properties to construct the laser system but usually unknown. The theories and methodologies to obtain these properties are presented and the experimental results are compared. In a second phase of the project, the multi-mode and single-mode operation of a high power diode-pumped rod laser system are examined and compared to the thin disc system. Thermal effects on the phase, beam quality and brightness are examined and future applications and improvements considered.

The thesis reviews principle of laser cavity and gives a general introduction to modelocked laser (MLL). By using Yb3+-doped fiber as gain medium, passive MLL cavity is developed in experiment, aiming to obtain femtosecond pulses with high pump power from 25W to 35W. The gain medium fiber with 65µm core diameter is cleaved with one flat end and another angled. Pump laser with 976nm wavelength is coupled into Yb3+ -doped fiber to excite signal from 1020nm to 1040nm in the core. 9W is threshold for laser setup. After locking all modes, picosecond pulses are output from laser cavity and coupled into dispersion delay fiber. By compressing pulse width, pulses are in soliton mode and then femtosecond laser pulses are obtained pulses are obtained. To measure ultrafast pulse width effectively, an auto-correlator based on Mach–Zehnder interferometer is developed. In the receiver terminal, a photodiode with range 320 nm to 1000 nm is used to detect signal and two photon absorption (TPA) method is applied.

The radiation quality factor of small vertically polarized antennas above a ground plane is investigated. Although the quality factor of small antennas in free space has been investigated extensively in the past, the exact effect of a conducting ground plane on the antenna bandwidth is not clearly understood. In this thesis, quality factors of vertically polarized antennas above a ground plane are computed and compared with their free-space counterparts. The theoretical results on quality factors are validated with simulations of electrically small spherical helix antennas.

Implementation of high-performance photonic integrated devices and circuits is becoming a growing essential need for a plethora of classical and nonclassical applications such as, high-speed telecom and data-com systems, frequency metrology and quantum communication systems. These applications require a combination of linear optics (e.g., beam splitters and filters), fast modulation (e.g., electro-optic modulators) along with nonlinear optical processes. Thin-film lithium niobate (TFLN) stands as an ideal platform for that purpose due to its high electro-optic, nonlinear-optic, and ferroelectric effects, its wide transparency window, and its compatibility with fabrication technologies, especially, standard silicon photonics. This work aims at harnessing the unique properties of TFLN for implementation of high-performance integrated devices and circuits for nonlinear- and quantum-optic applications. First, we demonstrate thin-film periodically-poled lithium niobate (TF-PPLN) waveguides with the highest reported nonlinear conversion efficiency on TFLN to date. Then, we introduce a new class of wideband nonmagnetic and linear optical isolators, based on nonlinear frequency conversion and spectral filtering. We utilize TF-PPLN devices to experimentally demonstrate our novel isolator system with a wide bandwidth and high optical isolation ratio. We introduce and demonstrate efficient quantum-correlated photon-pair sources via nonlinearities in TF-PPLN waveguides. We also demonstrate tunable dual-channel ultra-narrowband Bragg grating filters on TFLN. All the demonstrated devices pave the path for implementation of high-performance advanced nonlinear and quantum photonic integrated circuits (PICs), as discussed in the future work directions.

This dissertation explores a new method for creating holographic phase masks (HPMs), which are phase transforming optical elements holographically recorded in photosensitive glass. This novel hologram recording method allows for the fast production of HPMs of any complexity, as opposed to the traditional multistep process, which includes the design and fabrication of a master phase mask operating in the UV region before the holographic recording step. We holographically recorded transmissive HPMs that are physically robust (they are recorded in a silicate glass volume), can handle tens of kilowatts of continuous wave (CW) laser power, are un-erasable, user defined, require no power to operate, can work over a wavelength band ranging from 350 to 2500 nm, and can modify the wavefront of narrow line or broad band coherent sources. The HPMs can be wavelength-tunable by angular adjustment over tens or even hundreds of nanometers. The HPMs incorporate the phase information in the bulk of a volume Bragg grating (VBG) resulting in only a single diffraction order and up to 100% diffraction efficiency. Recording in thick photosensitive medium also enables the multiplexing of HPMs in a single monolithic element. While these HPMs are physically overlapped in the space, they provide independent phase profiles, efficiencies, spectral and angular acceptances. Multiplexing HPMs allows splitting or combining of multiple beams while affecting their wavefronts individually. We also developed a new holographic phase mask of reflective-type. This device provides us the ability of recording RBGs with transversely shifted parts in the larger aperture which upon reconstruction will produce different phases to different parts of the diffracted beam. RBG's diffraction spectrum possesses a very narrow bandwidth, and the holographic recording technique allows to multiplex multiple gratings into a single volume of PTR glass. If each of these Bragg wavelengths is assigned with a specific spatial mode, it can be achieved simultaneous spatial and spectral multiplexing. As a separate research topic, we look at how holographic optical elements (HOEs) can be used for improving the capabilities of the existing generation of head-up displays (HUDs), resulting in smaller, lighter units with a larger eye-box. Currently, surface relief gratings recorded in photosensitive polymers that are susceptible to the environmental conditions are used in HOE-based HUDs. This has an impact on their reliability and overall lifespan. We investigated a specific holographically recorded in the volume of photo-thermo-refractive glass transmissive gratings that generated multiple diffracted beams due to their operation in Raman-Nath regime. The Raman Nath gratings were successfully used to create an array of images because in augmented reality systems, this approach can be used to enhance the size of the exit pupil. These image splitting elements, due to the features of PTR glass, have a great resistance to temperature gradients, mechanical shocks, vibrations, and laser radiation.