Numerical simulations and near-field optical imaging by laser feedback interferometry of plasmonic waveguides

This thesis is focused on the theoretical and experimental study of plasmonic waveguides operating at a wavelength of 1.55µm. Such plasmonic waveguides are investigated for optical interconnections with sub-wavelength lateral confinement. Several computational codes have been developed as predictive tools for the design of structures but also for systematic comparisons with experimental measurements. First, a 2D model based on multilayer approach was used to identify and characterize plasmonic modes on planar waveguides. A mode solver was also developed to determine the eigenmodes in plasmonic waveguides with various transverse shapes. Finally, these two codes have been re-used to implemente the optical source in a numerical model based on Finite-Difference Time-Domain (FDTD) approach. This final model was used to simulate numerically plasmonic structures both in 2D or 3D. Two categories of plasmonic waveguides have been processed by electron beam lithography. A scanning near-field optical microscope (SNOM) based on laser feedback interferometry has been used to observe experimentally the optical properties in these structures. The first waveguiding structures were based on metallic stripes, with propagation length up to few hundred of µm but at low lateral confinement. The second series of waveguiding structures was based on DLSPP consisting of a sub-wavelength polymer ridge deposited on a gold layer. Such DLSPP optical waveguides allow sub-wavelength lateral light confinement and are investigated as efficient interconnection between highly integrated electronic devices and optical links.