Visualization of Bloch surface waves and directional propagation effects on one-dimensional photonic crystal substrate.

Abstract

This paper reports a novel approach to the direct observation of Bloch surface waves, wherein a layer of fluorescent material is deposited directly on the surface of a semi-infinite periodic layered cell. A set of surface nano-gratings is used to couple pumping light to Bloch surface waves, while the sample is rotated until the pumping light meets the quasi-phase matching conditions. This study investigated the directional propagation of waves on stripe and circular one-dimensional grating structures by analyzing the dispersion relationship of the first two eigen modes. Our results demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed scheme in visualizing Bloch surface waves, which could be extended to a variety of other devices.