Interface photonic states at the boundary between a metal and a dielectric Bragg mirror

Tamm states of light are localized interface modes inside the light‐cone. In contrast to the surface modes they can have a zero in‐plane wave‐vector. We show that they can be formed in both TE and TM polarizations at the boundary between the isotropic media with a negative dielectric constant (e.g. a metal below the plasmon resonance) and a periodical dielectric Bragg structure. It is shown that the order of layers in Bragg structure is crucial for the appearance of the Tamm states. The in‐plane dispersion of the interface states is parabolic with effective masses slightly different for TE and TM polarizations, both of the order of 10–5 of the free electron mass. (© 2007 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)