Bloch-surface-wave photonic crystal nanobeam cavity.

We theoretically demonstrate a nanobeam cavity based on a photonic crystal ridge that supports localized Bloch surface waves (BSWs) propagating at the truncation interface of a periodic multilayer. Combining the appealing characteristics of a nanobeam cavity (such as flexible geometry, small footprint size, and an etching-free fabrication with the leading lithographic technologies) with the versatility of BSW (whose dispersion relation is finely tunable as compared to other surface waves), this structure may prove to be a customizable visible-to-IR platform, well suited for a number of applications ranging from optical sensing to the control of single-photon emission from embedded nanoemitters such as quantum dots or color centers.