Abstract

We show that the coupling of light from an external pointlike light source into a three-dimensional (3D) photonic crystal depends on the relative launching position with respect to the crystal lattice as well as on the frequency of light. The results are obtained with a near-field technique which is used to acquire optical information beyond the diffraction limit and to access optical details within the unit cell of the crystal. The experiments are performed at frequencies near the second-order L-gap. As a result, the changes in the shape of the near-field pattern are explained by the photonic properties of the crystal.
[Note: the 3D crystals are opals made from polystyrene nanospheres by self-assembly.]

URL

https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.68.015601

Authors

E. Flück, N. F. van Hulst, W. L. Vos, and L. Kuipers

Year of publication

2003

Date published

07/2003

Journal

Phys. Rev. E

Volume

68

Pages

015601(R):1-4

DOI number

10.1103/PhysRevE.68.015601

Keywords

3D photonic crystals, Hopp_schwyz, Near-Field optical microscopy, near-field probing, opals