0000000000669953
AUTHOR
Ségolène Callard
Real space observation of two-dimensional Bloch wave interferences in a negative index photonic crystal cavity
We report here the direct observation of two-dimensional (2D) Bloch wave interferences in a negative index photonic crystal by using optical near-field microscopy techniques. The photonic crystal is formed by a defectless honeycomb lattice of air holes etched in III-V semiconductor slab. A scanning near-field optical microscope is used to visualize spatially, as well as spectrally, the light distribution inside the photonic crystal. The recorded near-field spectra and maps presented here unambiguously demonstrate the Bloch wave interferences within the photonic crystal. Then, the spectral and spatial evolution of these interferences allows us to recover experimentally the 2D band diagram of…
Near-field observation of subwavelength confinement of photoluminescence by a photonic crystal microcavity
We present a direct, room-temperature near-field optical study of light confinement by a subwavelength defect microcavity in a photonic crystal slab containing quantum-well sources. The observations are compared with three-dimensional finite-difference time-domain calculations, and excellent agreement is found. Moreover, we use a subwavelength cavity to study the influence of a near-field probe on the imaging of localized optical modes. © 2006 Optical Society of America.