Abstract
Multiple coherent scattering and the constructive interference of certain scattering paths form the common scheme of several remarkable localization phenomena of classical and quantum waves in randomly disordered media1. Prominent examples are electron transport in disordered conductors2,3, the localization of excitons in semiconductor nanostructures4,5, surface plasmon polaritons at rough metallic films6,7 or light in disordered dielectrics8,9,10,11 and amplifying media1,12,13,14. However, direct observation of the fundamental spatiotemporal dynamics of the localization process remains challenging15. This holds true, in particular, for the localization of light occurring on exceedingly short femtosecond timescales and nanometre length scales. Here, we combine second harmonic microscopy with few-cycle time resolution to probe the spatiotemporal localization of light waves in a random dielectric medium. We find lifetimes of the photon modes of several femtoseconds and a broad distribution of the local optical density of states, revealing central hallmarks of the localization of light. By combining high-resolution nonlinear optical microscopy with few-cycle time resolution, scientists show that they are able to probe the spatiotemporal localization of light waves in random dielectric nanostructures. The findings will aid the study of light localization dynamics in a variety of passive and active random media.
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