Nanoimprinting of Photonic Devices for Visible Light Applications

The science of photonics is increasingly enabling the discovery of unprecedented proprieties that stem from the interaction of light with nanostructured matter. On the other hand, nanotechnology provides a key support to the research in photonics. In particular nanoimprint lithography (NIL) proved important to accelerate the development and prototyping of novel photonic device concepts. In this thesis, NIL was analyzed as a suitable, flexible, low-cost lithography solution for photonics. The purpose of this work is to research and evaluate novel nanofabrication technologies, materials and device concepts to support and innovate the fields of photonics and nanotechnology. In doing so, different implementations of NIL were experimentally investigated on the imprint of novel photonic devices into purely organic and hybrid organic-inorganic sol-gel materials. Two main research themes on printable photonics are explored in parallel. The first concerns the development and testing of nanoimprint technologies to pursue the fabrication of progressively more challenging device concepts, from 2D to 3D. As a second research theme, the idea to couple top-down nano-patterning approaches (NIL) with bottom-up functionalities that emerge from engineering material proprieties at the chemistry level is put forward. To explore these research courses, two photonic devices were designed, fabricated and tested: an integrated holographic planar circuit for on-chip spectroscopy, and a photonic crystal slab printed out of a functional, high-refractive index material. The amount of integration, complexity and variety of the printed optical components presented here allow us to extend the validity of the work to an even broader range of photonic devices. This work advances the field of printable photonics and demonstrates its leverage to innovation, which encompasses several scientific fields.