Out-of-plane resonances in terahertz photonic crystal slabs modulated by optical pumping

This paper describes detailed optical-pump-terahertz-probe studies of two-dimensional photonic crystal slabs for propagation perpendicular to the slabs. When the slabs are excited by an 800 nm pump pulse and the effect of shielding by photocarriers is removed, we find that the decaying tail in the transmitted terahertz radiation is strikingly enhanced. The photocarriers weaken guided resonances, but they also greatly enhance the excitation efficiency of guided resonances and the ability of the guided resonances to transfer energy back to the radiation field. This increases the resonance-assisted contribution to transmitted field. The photoinduced resonant extremes agree well with the Fano model. (C) 2011 Optical Society of America