Optical Tamm state on a femtosecond time scale

P. Melentiev, A. Afanasiev, and V. Balykin

Phys. Rev. A 88, 053841 – Published 25 November 2013

Abstract

In this work, we investigated the temporal dynamics of the optical Tamm state (OTS) that arises at the interface between a one-dimensional photonic crystal and a gold nanofilm. The temporal dynamics was measured by two methods: (1) the spectral method, which is based on the analysis of the spectral composition of reflected light, and (2) the probe method, i.e., by embedding an inertialess probe into the OTS mode. It was found that the temporal dynamics of OTS formation is determined by the quality factor of the photonic-crystal/nanofilm microcavity with a characteristic time of OTS formation in the range of 100 to 300 fs.