Les systèmes d’information actuels reposent fortement sur les technologies micro-ondes utilisées pour les communications hertziennes. L’amélioration des performances des MEMS radio fréquence aptes à fonctionner dans la bande X (8 GHz et 12 GHz) est un enjeu important pour des applications de télécommunications mais aussi pour les applications radar. Pour y parvenir l’intégration de matériaux ferroélectriques à haute constante diélectrique est requise. Les matériaux qui possèdent de telles propriétés et qui sont les plus adaptés, sont les composés qui dérivent de la structure pérovskite. Intégrer ce type de matériaux dans des commutateurs radio-fréquence (MEMS-RF) pose de nouveaux chalenges en termes de maîtrise du matériau et de compatibilité avec les technologies MEMS existantes. Cette thèse s’est portée sur le composé PMN-PT avec la composition 65/35 qui possède une permittivité relative supérieure à 10000 sous forme de matériau massif.Ce travail de thèse a été consacré à l’étude de l’intégration du composé PMN-PT dans des composants passifs que sont les commutateurs MEMS. Dans la gamme de fréquence d’intérêt, de 500 MHz jusqu’à 20 GHz, les propriétés de ces matériaux ont été peu étudiées sur les matériaux massifs et encore moins sous forme de films minces. L’objectif de cette thèse était de réaliser les couches minces ferroélectriques et de tester leur compatibilité dans l’ensemble du fonctionnement d’un composant MEMS mais aussi de mener une étude réciproque : l’analyse des FeMEMS (MEMS basé sur les ferroélectriques) permettant de compléter les connaissances de ces matériaux dans cette gamme de fréquence. Ce travail est d’intérêt pour l’industrie de la technologie MEMS mais aussi pour la science des matériaux ferroélectriques mais aussi par la compréhension des mécanismes physiques gouvernant aux propriétés diélectriques en termes de pertes notamment dans ce domaine de fréquences.Les caractérisations des MEMS-RF présentées dans cette thèse ont démontré la compatibilité du MEMS PMN-PT dans la gamme de fréquence entre 500MHz et 10 GHz avec de très bonnes performances. En utilisant cette adaptation, la technologie actuelle est ainsi capable de couvrir tous les bandes de fréquence les plus importantes : la bande de télécommunication civile de 1 GHz à 5 GHz en utilisant le PMN-PT, la bande X pour les satellites entre 5 GHz et 15 GHz avec PZT et la bande de haute fréquence de 15 GHz à 40 GHz pour la défense avec les diélectriques traditionnels (Si3N4). / The current information systems depend strongly on the microwave technology used for wireless communications. The enhanced performance of MEMS radio frequency capacity in X-band (8 GHz and 12 GHz) is an important issue not only for Telecom applications but also for Radar applications. The integration of ferroelectric materials with high-k t is highly demanded to replace the traditional dielectrics. This high-k property is accessible for compounds derived from the perovskite structure. Incorporating such materials in switches radio-frequency (RF-MEMS) impose however new chalenges in terms of the compatibility with the existing MEMS technologies. This thesis is focused on the compound PMN-PT with composition 65/35, which has a relative permittivity greater than 10,000 in the form of bulk material.This thesis has been devoted to the study of the integration of PMN-PT thin films in passive components such as MEMS switches. In the frequency range of interest, 500 MHz to 20 GHz, the properties of these materials have not been studied in bulk materials and even less in the form of thin films. The aim of this thesis was to fabricate the ferroelectric thin films and test their compatibility in the overall operation of a MEMS component. This study provides a reciprocal analysis FeMEMS (MEMS based on ferroelectrics) to complete knowledge of these materials in this frequency range. This work makes interest to both the industry and MEMS ferroelectric materials science who is trying to understand the physical mechanisms governing the dielectric properties in terms of losses in this particular range of frequencies.The characterizations of RF-MEMS presented in this thesis have demonstrated the compatibility of MEMS PMN-PT in the frequency range between 500MHz to 10 GHz with very good performance. Using this adaptation, the current technology is able to cover the most important frequency bands: the civil band telecommunication 1 GHz to 5 GHz using the PMN-PT, the X-band satellites between 5 GHz and 15 GHz with PZT and high frequency band of 15 GHz to 40 GHz for the defense with traditional dielectric (Si3N4).

The ability of physics to provide an understanding of our Universe lies in the essential interrelation between experiment and theory. But physics does not provide us only reliable representations of the causes acting in nature. Its powerful experimental devices and theoretical methods are the underlying reason of the explosive technological development of our time. LiNbO3 and LiTaO3 represent only one example of the essential impact of both experimental and theoretical investigations on their technological applications. Particularly, LiNbO3 has been the subject of many experimental studies due to its applications in electro-optic and integrated optical devices. Also, the doped LiNbO3 with rare-earth and transition metals could be used, for instance, as a material for tunable lasers. The previous theoretical studies devoted to LiNbO3 and LiTaO3 focused on their electronic structure, being an attempt to understand the microscopic origin of the paraelectric-to-ferroelectric phase transition of these materials. The ab initio lattice dynamics investigations performed so far were mainly aimed to identify the role of the individual atoms vibrations in the energetic of the phase transition. The lack of a reliable model for the zone-center lattice dynamics in these compounds motivated us to investigate this issue by means of ab initio frozen-phonon calculations. On the background of the obtained phonon frequencies and eigenvectors, we unambiguously identified all zone-center modes for LiNbO3 and the A1 ones for LiTaO3. Due to the above mentioned enlargement of the technological applications of LiNbO3 by doping with various ions, we focused on the analysis of the ground-state properties of this material when doped with Fe and Cr. Even if the theoretical approach used in our calculations is not predictive with respect to the optical properties of the physical systems in study, a certain insight on this problem could be gained from the analysis of the effect of the atomic positions relaxation on the impurities energy levels localized in the optical band gap.

This work is dedicated to a comprehensive experimental study on the interaction of femtosecond laser pulses with the nonlinear optical medium lithium niobate. The nonlinear optical response in the nanosecond regime was already studied extensively with a variety of techniques, whereas femtosecond pulses were mainly used in transient absorption or transient grating experiments. Naturally, the temporal resolution of these measurements depends on the pulse duration, however, dynamics during the pulse excitation were barely investigated. The motivation of this work is to widen the limits of femtosecond spectroscopy, not only to temporally resolve faster nonlinear optical processes, but further to show a sensitivity to other coupling mechanisms between the pulses and the material. Especially, the role of transient, dynamic holographic gratings is investigated with a careful determination of the pulse duration, bandwidth and frequency chirp. A basis of this work is established in the first part by studying the material response via light-induced absorption before focusing on the main topic, the pulse interaction with elementary (holographic) gratings, both self-induced and static, in the second part. By this detailed study, several features of femtosecond laser pulses, holographic gratings and the ultrafast material response can be revealed: (i) grating recording is feasible even with pulses of different frequencies, provided that their pulse duration is sufficiently short, (ii) grating based pulse coupling causes a pronounced energy transfer even in a common pump-probe setup for transient absorption measurements with (non-)degenerated frequencies, (iii) beyond expectation, oscillations in the phonon frequency range become apparent in different measurements. The presented results point towards appropriate future experiments to obtain a more consistent, microscopic model for the ultrafast response of the crystal, involving the interplay between photo-generated polarons, self-induced gratings, and phonons.

The ensuring of reliability of piezoelectric thin films is crucial for a successful piezoelectric micro-electromechanical system (piezoMEMS) application. One of the most important limiting factors for reliability is resistance degradation, where the leakage current increases over time under electrical load. The understanding of resistance degradation in piezoelectric thin films requires knowledge about point defects inside the materials. In this dissertation, the resistance degradation mechanism in sputtered lead zirconate titanate (PZT) and lead-free alternative sodium potassium niobate (KNN) thin films is studied in both voltage polarities, and its relation to point defects is established. The conduction mechanism of both PZT and KNN thin films is found to be Schottky-limited. Furthermore, the resistance degradation is due to the reduction in Schottky barrier height, which results from the interfacial accumulation of additional charged defects. In order to study those defects, we use thermally stimulated depolarization current (TSDC) measurements and charge-based deep level transient spectroscopy (Q-DLTS) to characterize the defects in both PZT and KNN thin films. In PZT thin films, the resistance degradation take place in different waves of increasing leakage current. Both oxygen vacancies and lead vacancies contribute to the different waves of resistance degradation in both voltage polarities. A physical degradation model was developed based on hopping migration of oxygen vacancies at constant speed and exponent accumulation of lead vacancy trapping, where the natural logarithm of leakage current is proportional to the accumulated defect concentration to the power of 0.25. By using the oxygen vacancy concentration measured by TSDC and lead vacancy concentrations measured by Q-DLTS, the model successfully explained the resistance degradation behaviors of PZT films varying due to deposition non-uniformity and due to different process parameters. The accumulation of oxygen vacancies at cathode is supported by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and the resistance degradation can be restored by proper heat and electrical treatment as predicted by the defect characterization results. In KNN thin films, oxygen vacancies contribute to the resistance degradation when a negative voltage is applied at the top electrode, whereas sodium and potassium vacancies contribute to the resistance degradation when a positive voltage is applied at the top electrode. The model developed for PZT can be applied also to KNN, where the model successfully explained the resistance degradation behaviors of KNN films varying due to the deposition non-uniformity by using the defect concentration measured by TSDC. The accumulation of oxygen vacancies at cathode and sodium plus potassium vacancies at anode are supported by transmission electron microscopy energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (TEM-EDX), and the resistance degradation can be restored also by proper heat and electrical treatment as predicted by the defect characterization results. This dissertation revealed the similarity of the resistance degradation between sputtered PZT and KNN thin films. The degradation is controlled by the crystallography point defects created during deposition process inside the material, indicating the significance of process control on material reliability. This dissertation also demonstrates the applicability of TSDC and Q-DLTS as alternative methods to assess the quality of the piezoelectric thin films. Both measurement techniques provide additional information regarding specific defects when comparing with conventional highly accelerated lifetime test (HALT) or other relevant tests. / Die Sicherstellung der Zuverlässigkeit piezoelektrischer Dünnschichten ist entscheidend für eine erfolgreiche Anwendung in piezoelektrischen mikro-elektromechanischen Systemen (piezoMEMS). Einer der wichtigsten limitierenden Faktoren für die Zuverlässigkeit ist die Widerstandsdegradation, bei der der Leckstrom mit der Zeit unter elektrischer Last zunimmt. Das Verständnis der Widerstandsdegradation in piezoelektrischen Dünnschichten erfordert laut Literatur Kenntnisse über Punkt-Defekte innerhalb der Materialien. In dieser Dissertation wird der Mechanismus der Widerstandsdegradation in gesputterten Blei-Zirkonat-Titanat (PZT) Dünnschichten und dessen bleifreier alternative Kalium-Natrium-Niobat (KNN) in beiden Spannungspolaritäten untersucht und deren Zusammenhang mit Punkt-Defekte hergestellt. Der Leitungsmechanismus von PZT- und KNN-Dünnschichten ist Schottky-begrenzt. Außerdem ist die Widerstandsdegradation auf die Reduzierung der Schottky-Barrierhöhe zurückzuführen, die von der Akkumulation zusätzlicher aufgeladener -Defekte an der Grenzfläche stammt. Um diese -Defekte zu untersuchen, verwenden wir thermisch stimulierte Depolarisationsstrommessungen (Thermally stimulated depolarization current, TSDC) und ladungsbasierte Deep-Level-Transientenspektroskopie (Charge-based deep level transient spectroscopy, Q-DLTS), um die Defekte sowohl in PZT- als auch in KNN-Dünnschichten zu charakterisieren.Die Wiederstandsdegradation in PZT-Dünnschichten findet in unterschiedlichen Wellen des erhöhenden Leckstroms statt. Sowohl Sauerstofffehlstellen als auch Bleifehlstellen tragen zu den unterschiedlichen Wellen der Widerstandsdegradation in beiden Spannungspolaritäten bei. Ein physikalisches Degradationsmodell wurde entwickelt, basierend auf der Hopping-Migration von Sauerstofffehlstellen bei konstanter Geschwindigkeit und exponentieller Akkumulation von Ladungseinfang durch Bleifehlstellen, wobei der natürliche Logarithmus des Leckstroms proportional zur akkumulierten Defektkonzentration hoch 0,25 ist. Durch die Verwendung der Sauerstofffehlstellen- und Bleifehlstellenkonzentrationen konnte das Modell das Widerstandsdegradationsverhalten von PZT-Dünnschichten erklären, das wegen der Ungleichmäßigkeit der Deposition und wegen der verschiedenen Prozessparameters variiert. Die Sauerstofffehlstellenkonzentration wird durch TSDC gemessen und die Bleifehlstellenkonzentrationen wird durch Q-DLTS gemessen. Die Akkumulation von Sauerstofffehlstellen an der Kathode wird durch die Röntgen-Photoelektronenspektroskopie (X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, XPS) unterstützt und die Widerstandsdegradation kann durch eine ordnungsgemäße Wärme- und elektrische Behandlung wiederhergestellt werden, wie durch die Ergebnisse von Defektecharakterisierung vorhergesagt wurde. Bei KNN-Dünnschichten tragen Sauerstofffehlstellen zu der Widerstandsdegradation bei, wenn eine negative Spannung an der oberen Elektrode anliegt, und Natrium- und Kaliumfehlstellen tragen zu der Widerstandsdegradation bei, wenn eine positive Spannung an der oberen Elektrode anliegt. Das für PZT entwickelte Modell kann auch auf KNN angewendet werden. Das Modell erklärt erfolgreich das Widerstandsdegradationverhalten von KNN-Dünnschichten, das durch die Ungleichmäßigkeit der Deposition variiert werden, was mithilfe der mit TSDC gemessenen Defektkonzentrationen erklärt werden kann. Die Akkumulation von Sauerstofffehlstellen an Kathode und Natrium- und Kaliumfehlstellen an der Anode wird durch die transmissionselektronenmikroskopische energiedispersive Röntgenspektroskopie (transmission electron microscopy energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, TEM-EDX) unterstützt, und die Widerstandsdegradation kann auch durch eine ordnungsgemäße Wärme- und elektrische Behandlung wiederhergestellt werden, wie durch die Ergebnisse von Defektecharakterisierung vorhergesagt wurde. Diese Dissertation zeigt die Ähnlichkeit der Widerstandsdegradation zwischen gesputterten PZT- und KNN-Dünnschichten. Die Degradation wird durch die kristallographischen Punkt-Defekte gesteuert, die während des Abscheidungsprozesses im Material entstehen. Das weist auf die Bedeutung der Prozesskontrolle für die Zuverlässigkeit des Materials hin. Diese Dissertation zeigt auch die Anwendbarkeit von TSDC und Q-DLTS als alternative Methoden zur Beurteilung der Qualität der piezoelektrischen Dünnschichten. Beide Messtechniken liefern zusätzliche Informationen zu spezifischen Defekte im Vergleich zu traditionellen HALT-Prüfungen (highly accelerated lifetime test).

The present work broaches the physics of light-matter interaction, chiefly using nonlinear optical spectroscopy in a newly developed framework termed as Photon Management Concept. This way, existing fragments dealing with specific properties of harmonic and upconversion nanoparticles (HNPs/UCNPs) are consolidated into a full and coherent picture with the primary goal of understanding the underlying physical processes and their impact on the application side, especially in terms of imaging techniques, via suitable experimental and numerical studies. Contemporary optical setups involving contrast-enhancing agents are frequently limited in their excitation and detection configurations owing to a specialization to a select number of markers. As a result, the bandwidth of experimental methods and specimens that may be investigated is severely restricted in a large number of state-of-the-art setups. Here, an alternative approach involving HNPs and UCNPs, respectively, is presented providing an overview from their synthesis to optical characterization and to potential fields of application. Based on their inherent flexibility based on their nonlinear optical response, especially in terms of wavelength and intensity tunability, the PMC alleviates prevalent limitations by dynamically adapting the setup to a sample instead of the preliminary culling to a reduced number of eligible specimens that must not change their optical properties significantly during investigation. The use of HNPs supersedes such concerns due to their nearly instantaneously generated, strongly anti-Stokes shifted, coherent emission capable of producing radiation throughout the visible spectral range, including infrared and ultraviolet wavelengths. This way, HNPs transcend the traditional field of imaging and introduces potential applications in optomanipulation or holographic techniques. Thorough (nonlinear) optical characterization of UCNPs and alkali niobate HNP ensembles is performed to assess the fundamental physical mechanisms interwoven with numerical studies leading to their wide-ranging applicability. Final remarks show that HNPs are ideal candidates for realization of the PMC and yet hold an even further potential beyond current prospects.