Surface waves between metallic films and truncated photonic crystals observed with reflectance spectroscopy

We have analyzed and demonstrated surface-wave excitations, by propagating waves in air, at the interface between a truncated photonic crystal (PC) and a silver film in the near-infrared. The truncated PC was fabricated with several unit cells of alternating SiO(2) and Si(3)N(4) layers. The dispersion relation of surface waves was calculated using the supercell method. A Fourier-transform infrared spectrometer measured the spectral reflectance of the fabricated sample at different incidence angles. An angle-resolved laser scatterometer measured the reflectance as a function of the incidence angle at the wavelength of 891 nm. The agreement between the resonance conditions obtained from experiments and the calculated dispersion relation manifests that surface waves at the PC-Ag interface may be utilized to build coherent thermal-emission sources.