This thesis is in keeping with the research activities of the optics department of the ENST Bretagne concerning optical information processing functions. This work is based on the study of 1D or 2D diffraction gratings realized holographically in order to obtain functions such as Bragg gratings or resonant optical filters. Suitable simulation tools are developed to determine the theoretical response of these structures: the rigorous coupled-wave theory and the differential method, which take the vector nature of light into account. Two holographic materials used for recording volume holograms are studied: Dupont photopolymers for which a diffusion model is established and H-PDLCs (Holographic Polymer Dispersed Liquid Crystals) which can be used to realize electrically switchable Bragg gratings. These studies concerning modelling and recording materials allow us to validate the principle of two resonant optical filters. The first filter is a 2D photonic crystal made of two orthogonal periodic structures. The filtering operation is due to the enhancement of the diffraction by the structure when the incident light is at the photonic band-edge. The second resonant filter is tunable and uses surface plasmon resonance phenomena occurring for metallic surface relief gratings, the tunability being provided by the PDLC material.
Study, modelling and realization of diffractive components: Contribution to the study of tunable materials and applications to holographic recordings of resonant optical filters.