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Manipulation of photons at the surface of three-dimensional photonic crystals

Nature volume 460, pages 367–370 (2009)Cite this article

Abstract

In three-dimensional (3D) photonic crystals1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12, refractive-index variations with a periodicity comparable to the wavelength of the light passing through the crystal give rise to so-called photonic bandgaps, which are analogous to electronic bandgaps for electrons moving in the periodic electrostatic potential of a material’s crystal structure. Such 3D photonic bandgap crystals are envisioned to become fundamental building blocks for the control and manipulation of photons in optical circuits. So far, such schemes have been pursued by embedding artificial defects3,4,5,8,9,10,11,12 and light emitters4,5,6,7,8,9 inside the crystals, making use of 3D bandgap directional effects. Here we show experimentally that photons can be controlled and manipulated even at the ‘surface’ of 3D photonic crystals, where 3D periodicity is terminated, establishing a new and versatile route for photon manipulation. By making use of an evanescent-mode coupling technique, we demonstrate that 3D photonic crystals possess two-dimensional surface states, and we map their band structure. We show that photons can be confined and propagate through these two-dimensional surface states, and we realize their localization at arbitrary surface points by designing artificial surface-defect structures through the formation of a surface-mode gap. Surprisingly, the quality factors of the surface-defect mode are the largest reported for 3D photonic crystal nanocavities (Q up to ∼9,000). In addition to providing a new approach for photon manipulation by photonic crystals, our findings are relevant for the generation and control of plasmon-polaritons in metals and the related surface photon physics. The absorption-free nature of the 3D photonic crystal surface may enable new sensing applications and provide routes for the realization of efficient light–matter interactions.

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Figure 1: 3D photonic crystal and band structures.
Figure 2: Experimental demonstrations of the surface states of 3D photonic crystals.
Figure 3: Formation of a surface-mode gap by modification of the surface structure.
Figure 4: Artificial surface-defect structure and its characteristics.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Q. Sun for assistance with the experiment and numerical analysis, and S. Kawashima, S. Takahashi, Y. Tanaka, T. Asano and M. Fujita for discussions and advice. This work was supported in part by the Global Centre of Excellence for Education and Research on Photonics and Electronics Science and Engineering of Kyoto University, Japan, and by Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan, and the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS). K.I. acknowledges support from a Research Fellowship of the JSPS.

Author Contributions S.N. planned and organized the project; K.I. conducted the calculations, fabrications and measurements; S.N. and K.I. discussed the results and wrote the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Electronic Science and Engineering, Kyoto University,

    Kenji Ishizaki & Susumu Noda

  2. Japan Science and Technology Agency, Kyoto 615-8510, Japan,

    Kenji Ishizaki & Susumu Noda

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  1. Kenji Ishizaki
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  2. Susumu Noda
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Correspondence to Susumu Noda.

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Ishizaki, K., Noda, S. Manipulation of photons at the surface of three-dimensional photonic crystals. Nature 460, 367–370 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature08190

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