Thesis presented February 13, 2008
Abstract: This thesis enters upon the localization and the handling of the light at the wavelength scale. The work initially concerned microcavities with high quality factors (Q) integrated on ridge waveguides relying on a substrate (SOI). Thanks to a mode engineering based on modes profiles adaptation, the optimization of mirrors permits us to achieve Q factors up to 60000 for a modal volume of 0,6 (λ/n)
3. Optical confinement could be observed by near-field microscopy and we showed that it was possible to control these cavities by a SNOM tip. Lastly, we investigate the slow modes approach by tackling theoretically the issue of the injection of light in slow modes.
Keywords: Fabry-Perot cavities, modal adaptation, nanotechnology, integrated optics, loss recycling, optical near field, slow modes
On-line thesis.