Abstract
The goal of this work was to enhance the photoluminescence in the near infrared using plasmonic antennas. Plasmonic antennas can modify both the recombination dynamics and the emission diagram; these two aspects can thus be used to enhance the photoluminescence of an emitter in comparison to an emitter not coupled with an antenna. During this thesis, two emitters were studied: carbon nanotubes and G-centers in silicon.Plasmonic antennas can be metallic nanoparticles for instance. Thus, we first studied the scattering properties of metallic nanoparticles. During this study, we developed a technique to deposit single nanoparticles on a substrate. The optical characterization of several nanoparticles on different substrates was realized through scattering spectrum measurements. Polarization studies on both the excitation light and the emitted light were realized in order to analyze the origin of plasmonic resonances in the scattering spectrum. The influence of the temperature and the substrate on the scattering spectrums was also investigated.Secondly, we looked into a first near infrared emitter: semi-conducting carbon nanotubes. We characterized the photoluminescence from an assembly of carbon nanotubes and then from single carbon nanotubes. The photoluminescence of a single carbon nanotube is characterized by a low quantum yield (typically, a few %) which implied, in our experimental setup, that the emission from a single nanotube is at the limit of detectability. In order to propose viable optical applications based on carbon nanotubes, we tried to enhance their photoluminescence with plasmonic antennas. We thus deposited metallic nanoparticles on top of a layer of carbon nanotubes. We occasionally observed some enhancements, but this typically ceased in less than a minute.Finally, we studied a second emitter in the near infrared: the G-centers in silicon. The optical characterization was realized. The emission spectrum was measured and quantitatively analyzed. The lifetime of the G-center was measured for the first time. These two studies (spectrally resolved and temporally resolved) were also realized for different temperatures in order to characterize the recombination dynamics of the G-centers. The saturation of an assembly of G-centers was also quantitatively studied. We also realized measurements suggesting that the single G-center regime has nearly been achieved. The enhancement of the photoluminescence of G centers with plasmonic antennas was not realized due to lack of time.