Comparison of ordered and disordered silicon nanowire arrays: experimental evidence of photonic crystal modes

We experimentally compared the reflectance between ordered and disordered silicon nanowires to observe the evidence of photonic crystal modes. For similar diameters, the resonance peaks for the ordered nanowires at a spacing of 400 nm was at a shorter wavelength than the disordered nanowires, consistent to the excitation of photonic crystal modes. Furthermore, the resonant wavelength didn't shift while changing the density of the disordered nanowires, whereas there was a significant shift observed in the ordered ones. At an ordered spacing of 800 nm, the resonance wavelength approached that of the disordered structures, indicating that the ordered structures were starting to behave like individual waveguides. To our knowledge, this is the first direct experimental observation of photonic crystal modes in vertical periodic silicon nanowire arrays.