Nonlinear optical properties of nanoscale semiconductors had been a topic of intense research in recent years in attempts to realize all-optical communication systems. These semiconductor nanoclusters, in the range of 1-100nm are hosted in a dielectric material and are considered as a particular example of Conditional Artificial Dielectric (CAD). It has been reported that the dielectric properties of such materials will be greatly changed by light intensity.

Two main paths to realize nano semiconductor clusters are reported in this dissertation. The Pulsed Laser Deposition (PLD) technique is first described. Here we were investigating the effect of surface modification of nano silicon clusters by incorporating various gases (142, Ar, He) during the deposition process. Linear and nonlinear optical properties of these passivated Si nanoclusters were obtained.

Ion Implantation is another successful method to obtain nano semiconductor clusters. In order to ftirther enhance the nonlinear optical properties of these clusters, we incorporated them in optically confining structures, such as three-dimensional photonic crystals. The latter part of the dissertation is devoted to three-dimensional periodic structures made of silica spheres (opal) which were implanted with Si, Ge and Er. Linear and nonlinear optical properties of these novel materials have been measured and assessed.