Interface photonic states at the boundary between a metal and a dielectric Bragg mirror.

Abstract

Tamm states of light are localized interface modes inside the light-cone. In contrast to the surface modes they can have a zero in-plane wave-vector. We show that they can be formed in both TE and TM polarizations at the boundary between the isotropic media with a negative dielectric constant (e.g. a metal below the plasmon resonance) and a periodical dielectric Bragg structure. It is shown that the order of layers in Bragg structure is crucial for the appearance of the Tamm states. The in-plane dispersion of the interface states is parabolic with effective masses slightly different for TE and TM polarizations, both of the order of 10–5 of the free electron mass.