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Dynamic light diffusion, three-dimensional Anderson localization and lasing in inverted opals

Nature Physics volume 4, pages 794–798 (2008)Cite this article

Abstract

Photons propagate in photonic crystals in the same way as electrons propagate in solids. The periodical refractive index induces forbidden frequency bands, which nurture a variety of novel integrated devices and several fundamental studies ranging from threshold-less lasers to quantum computing. However, these investigations have to face the unavoidable disorder of real-world structures: if on one hand it largely hampers experiments, on the other hand it opens the possibility to study three-dimensional (3D) photon strong localization. We report on 3D+1 Maxwell–Bloch simulations of light dynamics in inverted opals exhibiting a complete photonic bandgap. We show that the disorder-induced localized states strongly alter the photonic crystal’s response to femtosecond optical pulses, drastically reducing the diffusion constant and trapping light. We find that an optimal amount of randomness favours the strongest localization; correspondingly, self-starting laser processes are mediated by Anderson states that prevail over spatially extended Bloch modes.

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Figure 1: Photonic bandgap fragility.
Figure 2: Transmission tail and localization.
Figure 3: Diffusion and decay-time distribution.
Figure 4: Laser emission spectrum.
Figure 5: Bloch versus Anderson laser.

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Acknowledgements

We acknowledge discussions with G. Ruocco, C. Toninelli and D. Wiersma, and support from the INFM-CINECA initiative for parallel computing. The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Research Council under the European Community’s Seventh Framework Program (FP7/2007-2013)/ERC grant agreement n.201766.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Research Center Soft INFM-CNR, c/o University Sapienza, I-00185 Rome, Italy

    C. Conti & A. Fratalocchi

  2. Research Center ‘Enrico Fermi’, Via Panisperna 89/A, I-00184 Rome, Italy

    A. Fratalocchi

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  1. C. Conti
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The authors contributed equally to the research reported here.

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Correspondence to C. Conti.

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Conti, C., Fratalocchi, A. Dynamic light diffusion, three-dimensional Anderson localization and lasing in inverted opals. Nature Phys 4, 794–798 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/nphys1035

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