Nonlinear optical tuning of photonic crystal microcavities by near-field probe

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.