Observation of the Uller-Zenneck wave

TL;DR

This paper reports the first experimental observation of the Uller-Zenneck wave at a dielectric interface, demonstrating its potential for optical interconnects in silicon-based devices.

Contribution

It provides the first experimental confirmation of the Uller-Zenneck wave, previously only theoretically predicted, at a periodically corrugated air-silicon interface.

Findings

Successful excitation of the wave as a Floquet harmonic

Observation in the 400-900 nm spectral range

Potential application in intra-chip optical communication

Abstract

The Uller-Zenneck wave has been theoretically predicted to exist at the planar interface of two homogeneous dielectric materials of which only one must be dissipative. Experimental confirmation of this century-old prediction was obtained experimentally by exciting the Uller-Zenneck wave as a Floquet harmonic of non-zero order at the periodically corrugated interface of air and crystalline silicon in the 400-to-900-nm spectral regime. Application for intra-chip optical interconnects at ~850 nm appears promising.