Optical Tamm states in one-dimensional magnetophotonic structures

TL;DR

This paper reports the experimental demonstration of optical Tamm states at the interface of 1D magnetophotonic and non-magnetic photonic crystals, showing enhanced Faraday rotation and sharp transmission peaks.

Contribution

It introduces the existence and experimental verification of optical Tamm states in 1D magnetophotonic structures, linking localized surface states with enhanced magneto-optical effects.

Findings

Spectrally narrow localized surface states observed

Sharp transmission peaks associated with Tamm states

Enhanced Faraday rotation at specific wavelengths

Abstract

We demonstrate the existence of a spectrally narrow localized surface state, the so-called optical Tamm state, at the interface between a 1D magnetophotonic and non-magnetic photonic crystals. The state is spectrally located inside the photonic band gaps of each of the photonic crystals comprising this magnetophotonic structure. This state is associated with a sharp transmission peak through the sample and is responsible for the substantial enhancement of the Faraday rotation for the corresponding wavelength. The experimental results are in excellent agreement with the theoretical predictions.