Tamm plasmon polaritons: Slow and spatially compact light

• Published in: Applied physics letters Vol. 92; no. 25; pp. 251112 - 251112-3
• Main Authors: Sasin, M. E., Seisyan, R. P., Kalitteevski, M. A., Brand, S., Abram, R. A., Chamberlain, J. M., Egorov, A. Yu, Vasil'ev, A. P., Mikhrin, V. S., Kavokin, A. V.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: American Institute of Physics 23-06-2008
• ISSN: 0003-6951; 1077-3118
• DOI: 10.1063/1.2952486

We report on the first experimental observation of Tamm plasmon polaritons (TPPs) formed at the interface between a metal and a dielectric Bragg reflector (DBR). In contrast to conventional surface plasmons, TPPs have an in-plane wavevector less than the wavevector of light in vacuum, which allows for their direct optical excitation. The angular resolved reflectivity and transmission spectra of a
Ga
As
∕
Al
As
DBR covered by Au films of various thicknesses show the resonances associated with the TPP at low temperatures and room temperature. The in-plane dispersion of TTPs is parabolic with an effective mass of
4
×
10
−
5
of the free electron mass.