Wavefront shaping allows for ultimate control of light propagation in multiple-scattering media by adaptive manipulation of incident waves. We shine two separate wavefront-shaped beams on a layer of dry white paint to create two enhanced output speck
le spots of equal intensity. We experimentally confirm by interference measurements that the output speckle spots are almost correlated like the two outputs of an ideal balanced beam splitter. The observed deviations from the phase behavior of an ideal beam splitter are analyzed with a transmission matrix model. Our experiments demonstrate that wavefront shaping in multiple-scattering media can be used to approximate the functionality of linear optical devices with multiple inputs and outputs.
We measure localized and extended mode profiles at the band edge of slow-light photonic-crystal waveguides using phase-sensitive near-field microscopy. High-resolution band structures are obtained and interpreted, allowing the retrieval of the optica
l density of states (DOS). This constitutes a first observation of the DOS of a periodic system with weak disorder. The Van Hove singularity in the DOS expected at the band edge of an ideal 1D periodic structure is removed by the disorder. The Anderson-localized states form a tail in the density of states, as predicted by Lifshitz for solid-state systems.
We perform phase-sensitive near-field scanning optical microscopy on photonic-crystal waveguides. The observed intricate field patterns are analyzed by spatial Fourier transformations, revealing several guided TE- and TM-like modes. Using the reconst
ruction algorithm proposed by Ha, et al. (Opt. Lett. 34 (2009)), we decompose the measured two-dimensional field pattern in a superposition of propagating Bloch modes. This opens new possibilities to study specific modes in near-field measurements. We apply the method to study the transverse behavior of a guided TE-like mode, where the mode extends deeper in the surrounding photonic crystal when the band edge is approached.
