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Experiments are described on the prism-coupled excitation of surface electromagnetic waves in one-dimensional photonic band-gap arrays. The low loss of photonic band-gap materials leads to narrow angular reflectivity resonances and high surface fields. These attributes, coupled with the ability to engineer the optical properties of photonic band-gap arrays, suggest these materials as powerful replacements for metal films in many applications that make use of surface-plasmon resonance.

The first observation to the authors' knowledge of electromagnetic surface waves in a two-dimensional dielectric crystal is reported. By using the coherent microwave transient spectroscopy technique, surface waves are shown to exist at frequencies within the photonic band gap for certain lattice terminations. Energy at gigahertz frequencies is coupled into the surface mode using a prism coupling technique. The experimental results are in excellent agreement with theoretical predictions.

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