Observation of Fundamental Limit of Light Localization

Abstract

In disordered media light can be localized in the spaces between scattering sites which average to an optical mean free path (MFP). However the fundamental question of the smallest MFP that can support Anderson localization of light remains unanswered due to fabrication complexity of a scattering medium with controlled nano-scale gaps and lack of required resolution by far-field methods. Here we use scanning probe microscopy technique to collect localized light created at gaps between scattering crystallographic defects in a large variety set of nano-gap III-V medium. No localized spots correlated to MFP below ~14.5 nm is observed at second-harmonic collection at 390 nm. Experiment and simulation resulted in the first direct observation of suppression of Anderson light localization correlated to ~13 nm optical MFP that reveals a fundamental constraint in electromagnetism and photonics.