Theoretical study of the plasmon resonances of metallic nanoparticles and their lithographic inscription using an Atomic Force Microscopy

The thesis presented in this manuscript concerns firstly the theoretical study of plasmon resonances of metal nanoparticles, and also an experimental study metallic nanostructures inscription based on the use of an Atomic Force Microscope. The theoretical part presents a new phenomenological approach for analyzing the resonant modes of unique particles and their coupling in simple structures. Numerical algorithms have been developed to extract the phenomenological parameters from the rigorous calculation of the field scattered by the particles. This methodology has been applied to various cases from the single particle to two dimensional particle arrays. The experimental section develops a metallic nanostructures inscription method based on electrolytic reduction of metal ions in meso-porous silica thin film, by applying a voltage between a conductive AFM tip and the conductive substrate supporting the film. Structures are formed on both sides of the silica layer, with the possibility to switch their position by a simple reversal of the applied potential. Moreover, it appears that this switching is accompanied by changes in the local conductivity of the silica layer. A consequence of the inscription process is the formation of metal filaments at the ends of AFM tips. In particular, gold filaments are obtained with sizes ranging from tens to hundreds of nanometers long with a few nanometers thick. (author)