1D photonic band formation and photon localization in finite-size photonic-crystal waveguides.

A transition from discrete optical modes to 1D photonic bands is experimentally observed and numerically studied in planar photonic-crystal (PhC) L(N) microcavities of length N. For increasing N the confined modes progressively acquire a well-defined momentum, eventually reconstructing the band dispersion of the corresponding waveguide. Furthermore, photon localization due to disorder is observed experimentally in the membrane PhCs using spatially resolved photoluminescence spectroscopy.

Photonic-crystal microcavity laser with site-controlled quantum-wire active medium.

Site-controlled quantum-wire photonic-crystal microcavity laser is experimentally demonstrated using optical pumping. The single-mode lasing and threshold are established based on the transient laser response, linewidth narrowing, and the details of the non-linear power input-output characteristics. Average-power threshold as low as approximately 240 nW (absorbed power) and spontaneous emission coupling coefficient beta approximately 0.