Direct observation of photonic Fermi surfaces by plasmon tomography

Light propagation in dielectric plasmonic crystals with different parameters and symmetries was investigated by plasmon tomography. We show that the photonic Fermi surfaces at the crystal's reciprocal lattice space can be observed directly from the Fourier plane images. Directional gaps were observed where the isofrequency wavevectors of the propagating surface plasmon mode intersect the first Brillouin zone of the plasmonic crystal structures. We determined that the angular magnitude of the directional gaps depends strongly on the crystal symmetry and the lattice period.