Time resolved optical Bloch oscillations in porous silicon superlattice structures

We report on the observation of time resolved Bloch oscillations of light waves in optical superlattice structures. The structures are series of coupled microcavities, which are grown in porous silicon with high control of optical parameters. A controlled linear gradient of refractive index along the growth direction was maintained to tilt the photonic band gap of the superlattice. This is in perfect analogy to the tilted electronic miniband structure of a semiconductor in an electric field. In this way an optical Wannier-Stark ladder of equidistant optical modes was formed. Their frequency separation defines the period of the photon Bloch oscillations. The experimental results are in excellent agreement with transfer matrix calculations. The observed phenomenon is the optical counterpart of the well known electronic Bloch oscillations. © 2005 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.