| This thesis presents the studies on the optical properties of perovskite ferroelectric thin films, as well as the preparation and applications of ferroelectrics in tunable photonic devices.;Ba(Zr,Ti)O3 (BZT) thin films with different Zr concentration were grown on MgO substrates by pulsed laser deposition, and their structural and optical properties in the visible range were systematically characterized, including the out-of-plane lattice constant, grain size, refractive index, optical band gap energy, electro-optic coefficient, optical loss and absorption coefficient. The obtained results provide information for the design of BZT thin film-based optical devices.;One-dimensional photonic crystal filter working in the terahertz (THz) range was studied. The transmission properties of SrTiO3 (STO) crystals were first characterized by THz time-domain spectroscopy. Si/STO multilayers with different STO defect thicknesses were designed by the transfer matrix method and then constructed by polishing and stacking. The shift of defect mode was observed and comparable with the calculations.;Two-dimensional photonic structures in the optical and infra-red range were then attempted. A combination of nanoimprint lithography and inductively coupled plasma etching were investigated on (Ba,Sr)TiO3 thin films. Then, in order to simplify the nanoimprint process and allow thick metal sacrificial layer deposition for high aspect-ratio etching, a transfer imprint lithography technique was developed.;Finally, surface plasmon resonance (SPR) tuning via thermally-induced refractive index changes in ferroelectrics was investigated. Ag stripes with periodicity 750 nm were fabricated on flat BST surface by nanoimprint lithography and subsequent lift-off. (-1), (2) and (-2) SP modes from Ag/BST interface were observed in visible range. Red shift of the modes up to 3.9 nm was obtained with increasing temperature. Then continuous Au film on corrugated BST surface with periodicity of 1 μm was obtained by nanoimprint lithography and subsequent dry etching. Thermal tuning of the (-1) SP mode from Au/BST interface by 1 nm was observed in the near infrared range. All the measurement results were comparable with the calculation by Rigorous coupled wave analysis and a simple analytical model. These results indicated the feasibility of active modulation in SPR in solid-state structures. |
