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The optical behavior of coupled systems, in which the breaking of parity and time-reversal symmetry occurs, is drawing increasing attention to address the physics of the exceptional point singularity, i.e., when the real and imaginary parts of the normal-mode eigenfrequencies coincide. At this stage, fascinating phenomena are predicted, including electromagnetic-induced transparency and phase transitions. To experimentally observe the exceptional points, the near-field coupling to waveguide proposed so far was proved to work only in peculiar cases. Here, we extend the interference detection scheme, which lies at the heart of the Fano lineshape, by introducing generalized Fano lineshapes as a signature of the exceptional point occurrence in resonant-scattering experiments. We investigate photonic molecules and necklace states in disordered media by means of a near-field hyperspectral mapping. Generalized Fano profiles in material science could extend the characterization of composite nanoresonators, semiconductor nanostructures, and plasmonic and metamaterial devices.

Optical localization in strongly disordered photonic media is an attractive topic for proposing novel cavity-like structures. Light interference can produce random modes confined within small volumes, whose spatial distribution in the near-field is predicted to show hot spots at the nanoscale. However, these near-field speckles have not yet been experimentally investigated due to the lack of a high spatial resolution imaging techniques. Here, we study a system where the disorder is induced by random drilling air holes in a GaAs suspended membrane with internal InAs quantum dots. We perform deep-subwavelength near-field experiments in the telecom window to directly image the spatial distribution of the electric field intensity of disordered-induced localized optical modes. We retrieve the near-field speckle patterns that extend over few micrometers and show several single speckles of the order of λ/10 size. The results are compared with the numerical calculations and with the recent findings in the literature of disordered media. Notably, the hot spots of random modes are found in proximity of the air holes of the disordered system.

A multi-speckle set-up for dynamic light scattering experiments has been implemented to investigate the relaxation dynamics in the glass-former [GRAPHICS] at temperatures across the glass transition. When compared to literature data obtained with traditional single-speckle set-ups, the present results clearly show the advantages of the multi-speckle approach in the study of slow dynamics processes in glass-forming materials. This opens the way for new detailed studies of the slow dynamics in glasses using dynamic light scattering, e.g. of ageing processes.

Photonic and plasmonic devices rely on nanoscale control of the local density of optical states (LDOS) in dielectric and metallic environments. The tremendous progress in designing and tailoring the electric LDOS of nano-resonators requires an investigation tool that is able to access the detailed features of the optical localized resonant modes with deep-subwavelength spatial resolution. This scenario has motivated the development of different nanoscale imaging techniques. Here, we prove that a technique involving the combination of scanning near-field optical microscopy with resonant scattering spectroscopy enables imaging the electric LDOS in nano-resonators with outstanding spatial resolution (l/19) by means of a pure optical method based on light scattering. Using this technique, we investigate the properties of photonic crystal nanocavities, demonstrating that the resonant modes appear as characteristic Fano line shapes, which arise from interference. Therefore, by monitoring the spatial variation of the Fano line shape, we locally measure the phase modulation of the resonant modes without the need of external heterodyne detection. This novel, deep-subwavelength imaging method allows us to access both the intensity and the phase modulation of localized electric fields. Finally, this technique could be implemented on any type of platform, being particularly appealing for those based on non-optically active material, such as silicon, glass, polymers, or metals.

Tailoring the electromagnetic field at the nanoscale has led to artificial materials exhibiting fascinating optical properties unavailable in naturally occurring substances. Besides having fundamental mplicationsfor classical and quantum optics, nanoscale metamaterials provide a platform for developing disruptive novel technologies, in which a combination of both the electric and magnetic radiation field components at optical frequencies is relevant to engineer the light-matter interaction. Thus, an experimental investigation of the spatial distribution of the photonic states at the nanoscale for both field components is of crucial importance. Here we experimentally demonstrate a concomitant deep-subwavelength near-field imaging of the electric and magnetic intensities of the optical modes localized in a photonic crystal nanocavity. We take advantage of the ‘‘campanile tip’’, a plasmonic near-field probe that efficiently combines broadband field enhancement with strong far-field to near-field coupling. By exploiting the electric and magnetic polarizability components of the campanile tip along with the perturbation imaging method, we are able to map in a single measurement both the electric and magnetic localized near-field distributions.

Disordered photonic materials can diuse and localize light through random multiple scattering, oering opportunities to study mesoscopic phenomena, control light–matter interactions, and provide new strategies for photonic applications. Light transport in such media is governed by photonic modes characterized by resonances with finite spectral width and spatial extent. Considerable steps have been made recently towards control over the transport using wavefront shaping techniques. The selective engineering of individual modes, however, has been addressed only theoretically. Here, we experimentally demonstrate the possibility to engineer the confinement and the mutual interaction of modes in a two-dimensional disordered photonic structure. The strong light confinement is achieved at the fabrication stage by an optimization of the structure, and an accurate and local tuning of the mode resonance frequencies is achieved via post-fabrication processes. To show the versatility of our technique, we selectively control the detuning between overlapping localized modes and observe both frequency crossing and anti-crossing behaviours, thereby paving the way for the reation of open transmission channels in strongly scattering media.

A method to achieve photoinduced tuning of PhC nanocavity modes is discussed and implemented. It is based on light induced oxidation in air atmosphere with very low thermal budget which produces a local reduction of the GaAs membrane effective thickness and a large blueshift of the nanocavity modes. It is also shown that green light is much more efficient in inducing the micro-oxidation with respect to near infrared light. The observed behaviour is attributed to oxide growth promoted by photoenhanced reactivity.

The post-fabrication control of evanescent tunnelling in photonic crystal molecules is demonstrated through the combination of selective infiltration and oxidation. By laser non thermal oxidation, we reduce the photonic coupling by more than 30% while by means of water micro-infiltration, we increase it by 28%. Fine-tuning of the photonic coupling is achieved by low-power laser oxidation and forced evaporation, opening the route to post-fabrication control of array of coupled cavities.

We employ a far-field analysis of the angular emission pattern to experimentally assess the symmetry of localized modes in coupled photonic-crystal cavities. We demonstrate that the spatial distribution of localized modes in photonic-crystal nanocavities may change from a bonding to an antibonding orbital, a feature that is unusual in quantum mechanical coupled systems. Experimental data are confirmed by numerical calculations and interpreted in terms of the peculiar oscillatory behavior of the evanescent waves in photonic-crystal band gaps.

A revisited realization of the Young’s double slit experiment is introduced to directly probe the photonic mode symmetry by photoluminescence experiments. We experimentally measure the far field angular emission pattern of quantum dots embedded in photonic molecules. The experimental data well agree with predictions from Young’s interference and numerical simulations. Moreover, the vectorial nature of photonic eigenmodes results in a rather complicated parity property for different polarizations, a feature which has no counterpart in quantum mechanics.

We make use of near-field microscopy to image the coupling between two adjacent photonic crystal microcavities A special design of the photonic structures is adopted with selective coupling between different modes having orthogonal spatial extensions Spatial delocalization of coupled-cavity optical modes is found whenever the frequency matching condition is fulfilled On the contrary, in case of large detuning, the modes are localized in each microcavity

We demonstrate the nonresonant magnetic interaction at optical frequencies between a photonic crystal microcavity and a metallized near-field microscopy probe. This interaction can be used to map and control the magnetic component of the microcavity modes. The metal coated tip acts as a microscopic conductive ring, which induces a magnetic response opposite to the inducing magnetic field. The resulting shift in resonance frequency can be used to measure the distribution of the magnetic field intensity of the photonic structure and fine-tune its optical response via the magnetic field components.

A fine control of a photonic molecule is obtained by nanofluidic techniques. The coupling condition between the modes of two photonic crystal nanocavities is modified by spectrally tuning each single resonator. Clear mode anticrossing and transition from localized to delocalized states are observed. The detuning induced by disorder, always present in real device, is experimentally compensated by locally modifying the photonic environment of the cavity.

We report on polarization sensitive imaging of two-dimensional photonic crystal microcavity modes. By using a near-field scanning optical microscope with a polarization sensitive setup, it is possible to selectively map, with a resolution beyond the diffraction limit, each electric field component in the plane of the sample. In addition, the simultaneous analysis of photoluminescence maps in different polarization channels allowed us to obtain important insight on near-field microscopy detection mechanism. Finite difference time domain simulations confirm the experimental results. © 2009 American Institute of Physics.

We report by means of near-field microscopy on the coupling between two adjacent photonic crystal microcavities. Clear-cut experimental evidence of the spatial delocalization of coupled-cavity optical modes is obtained by imaging the electromagnetic local density of states. We also demonstrate that it is possible to design photonic structures with selective coupling between different modes having orthogonal spatial extensions © 2009 American Institute of Physics.

We present a spectral tuning mechanism of photonic crystal microcavities based on microfluidics. The microinfiltration with water of one or few cavity holes and its subsequent controlled evaporation allow us to tune the cavity resonances in a spectral range larger than 20 nm, with subnanometer accuracy, and we also observe that the addition of water in the microcavity region improves its quality factor Q. © 2009 American Institute of Physics.

We report on a nonlinear way to control and tune the dielectric environment of photonic crystalmicrocavities exploiting the local heating induced by near-field laser excitation at differentexcitation powers. The temperature gradient due to the optical absorption results in an index ofrefraction gradient which modifies the dielectric surroundings of the cavity and shifts the opticalmodes. Reversible tuning can be obtained either by changing the excitation power density or byexciting in different points of the photonic crystal microcavity.

We experimentally observe a sizable and reversible spectral tuning of the resonances of a two-dimensional photonic crystal microcavity induced by the introduction of a subwavelength size glass tip. The comparison between experimental near-field data, collected with ? 6 spatial resolution, and results of numerical calculations shows that the spectral shift induced by the tip is proportional to the local electric field intensity of the cavity mode. This observation proves that the electromagnetic local density of states in a microcavity can be directly measured by mapping the tip-induced spectral shift with a scanning near-field optical microscope.