Anderson localisation of visible light on a nanophotonic chip

Abstract

We demonstrate Anderson localisation of visible light on a chip and report quality factors exceeding highly engineered two-dimensional cavities. Our results reverse the trend, observed so far, of the quality of disorder-induced light confinement being orders of magnitude lower than engineered devices. Furthermore, by implementing a sensitive imaging technique, we directly visualise the localised modes, determine their position on the device and measure their spatial extension. Our findings prove the potential of disorder-induced localised light for scalable, room temperature, optical devices, operating in the visible range of wavelengths.