Highly directional radiation pattern of microdisk cavities

The far field radiation pattern of microdisk cavities embedding a quantum well is measured through angle resolved microphotoluminescence. The radiation pattern presents two narrow lobes slightly off the disk plane, in apparent contradiction with previous theoretical predictions. The observed radiation pattern is shown to result from interferences with light reflected by the sample substrate. It can be fully reproduced given the microdisk precise geometry as well as the whispering gallery mode azimuthal number.