The demand for higher bandwidth and higher speed driven by semiconductor technology development draws a great deal of research efforts devoted to the development of high speed data communication. Challenges on electrical copper interconnects at high frequency make optical interconnect technologies become a promising alternative to conventional electrical interconnects at different levels. This doctoral dissertation describes polymer based nano- and micro-photonic devices for three-dimensional optical interconnects. Two areas are focused, (1) polymer based two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) photonic crystal fabrication and simulation for laser beam steering applications, (2) polymer based optical waveguide array and shared bus waveguide with embedded 45° micro-mirrors for board level optical interconnects. A three-dimensional (3D) face-centered cubic (FCC) type polymer based photonic crystal using the polymer material SU-8 was simulated and successfully fabricated using a polygonal prism based holographic fabrication method. The theoretical study of polymer based photonic crystals was carried out for laser beam steering, which is based on the superprism effect. Horizontally stacked two-dimensional (2D) photonic crystal was fabricated by a double exposure holographic interference method. The k-vector superprism effect, the principle for beam steering, was studied in detail through EFC (Equi-frequency Contour) analysis. A polymer based optical waveguide array with embedded 45° micro-mirrors for board level optical interconnects was prepared using a Ni metal hard mold by a UV imprint technique. A nickel based metal mold with 45º tilted surfaces on both ends of the channel waveguide was prepared through the electroplating process. To obtain a precise 45º tilted angle, a 50µm thick SU-8 layer was exposed under de-ionized water. High speed optical testing (10Gb/s) was carried out on the polymeric optical waveguide array with embedded 45º micro-mirrors on flexible substrate for out-of-plane optical interconnects. A polymer based 3-to-3 shared optical bus waveguide with opposite 45º micro-mirrors was designed and fabricated using the metallic hard mold method. The Ni metal hard mold was successfully prepared using the Ni electroplating method. This metallic hard mold provides a convenient way to fabricate the polymeric optical bus waveguide devices through the imprint technique. / text

Photonic crystals (PCs), consisting of a periodic pattern of variations in the material properties, are one of the platforms proposed as synthetic optical materials to meet the need for optical materials with desired properties. Recently, applications based on dispersive properties of the PCs have been proposed in which PCs are envisioned as optical materials with controllable dispersive properties. Unlike the conventional use of PCs to achieve localization, in these new applications propagation inside the photonic crystal is studied, and their dispersive properties are utilized. Among these applications, the possibility of demultiplexing light using the superprism effect is of particular interest. Possibility of integration and compactness are two main advantages of PC-based wavelength demultiplexers compared to other demultiplexing techniques, for applications including compact spectrometers (for sensing applications), demultiplexers (for communications), and spectral analysis (for information processing systems). I develop the necessary simulation tools to study the dispersive properties of photonic crystals. In particular, I will focus on superprism-based demultiplexing in PCs, and define a phenomenological model to describe different effects in these structures and to study important parameters and trends. A systematic method for the optimization and design of these structures is presented. Implementation of these structures is experimentally demonstrated using the devices fabricated in a planar SOI platform based on designed parameters. In the next step, different approaches to improve the performance of these devices (for better resolution and lower insertion loss) are studied, and extension of the concepts to other material platforms is discussed.

In this thesis devices for controlling the flow of surface plasmon polaritons are described. Dielectric and metallic nanostructures were designed for this purpose, and characterized by leakage radiation microscopy in real and in reciprocal spaces. Manipulation of surface plasmons by dielectric lenses and gradient index elements is presented, and negative refraction, steering and self-collimation of surface plasmons in one- and two-dimensional plasmonic crystals is demonstrated. The achieved degree of control was applied for routing of nanoparticles by optical forces, as well as for two methods of enhancing the figures of merit of plasmonic refractive index sensors, based on the one hand on Fano resonances natural to leakage radiation microscopy, and on the other hand on anisotropie plasmonic bandstructures.

Ce manuscrit s'inscrit dans le contexte du contrôle de la propagation des plasmons de surface. A cet effet, des nanostructures diélectriques et métalliques ont été conçues et caractérisées par microscopie à champ de fuite dans les espaces réels et réciproques. La manipulation des plasmons de surface à l'aide de lentilles diélectriques et d' éléments à gradient d'indice est présentée, et la réfraction négative, la direction et l'auto-collimation des plasmons de surface dans des cristaux plasmoniques à une ou deux dimensions sont démontrées. Ces résultats ont été utilisés pour le guidage de nanoparticules à l'aide de forces optiques, ainsi que pour deux méthodes permettant de renforcer le facteur de mérite de sondes plasmoniques de variation d'indice de réfraction, basées l' une sur les résonances de Fano naturelles de la microscopie à champ de fuite, et pour la seconde sur les structures des bandes plasmoniques anisotropes. / In this thesis devices for controlling the flow of surface plasmon polaritons are described. Dielectric and metallic nanostructures were designed for this purpose, and characterized by leakage radiation microscopy in real and in reciprocal spaces. Manipulation of surface plasmons by dielectric lenses and gradient index elements is presented, and negative refraction, steering and self-collimation of surface plasmons in one- and two-dimensional plasmonic crystals is demonstrated. The achieved degree of control was applied for routing of nanoparticles by optical forces, as well as for two methods of enhancing the figures of merit of plasmonic refractive index sensors, based on the one hand on Fano resonances natural to leakage radiation microscopy, and on the other hand on anisotropie plasmonic bandstructures.