This PhD thesis is focused on the study of self-assembled photonic and plasmonic crystals and on the coupling of photoluminescent semiconductor nanocrystals to the plasmonic crystals. The approach adopted here is to describe the observed phenomenons with simple models in order to focus on their physical interpretation. The structures studied here are obtained from self-assembled silica opals. These are 3D periodic stackings of silica micro-spheres. Their periodicity confer them particular optical properties and the name "photonic crystal" is then attributed to them. The theoretical tools usefull for their description are presented and used to interpret experimental results which were not fully explained yet. "Plasmonic crystals" are also fabricated by depositing a layer of gold onto opals. In this case, the surface plasmon polaritons (SPP) of the gold surface properties are modified by the periodicity. SPP's are electromagnetic surface modes that propagates on metals such as gold, silver and copper. These gold surfaces with micrometric scale structures show original and very broad-band plasmonic properties. Also, they can be made on large surfaces wich makes them interesting candidates for some applications like photovoltaic, LEDs, etc. Finally, the near-field coupling of CdSe/CdS photoluminescent nanocristals to plasmonic crystals is studied. The grating-induced SPP far-field re-emission is evidenced and a model is proposed to quantify the SPP extraction.
Photonic and plasmonic crystals, coupling to fluorescent emitters.