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Self-collimation (SC) and mesoscopic self-collimation (MSC) have been successfully demonstrated along the directions of high symmetry of photonic crystals. Indeed, wide angular acceptances are obtained only in these directions which offer extremely flat isofrequencies. In this article, we numerically demonstrate that mesoscopic self-collimation with large angular acceptance can be achieved along arbitrary directions that are not of high symmetry. In particular, we propose a simple method that allows to easily find all the non-trivial collimation directions and corresponding frequencies. Thanks to the double periodicity of the mesoscopic crystal, these solutions can be effectively tailored in terms of direction and frequency. Moreover, non-trivial MSC solutions can be found well below the light cone. These MSC features open up the possibility of designing complex systems by combining different configurations, such as high reflection (HR) or anti reflection (AR) ones, or active materials.

In this Letter, the study of a periodic structure composed of gold strips arranged in double-period unit cells, in a symmetric and asymmetric environment, is reported. The spectral maps show that the formation of the plasmonic bandgap and the extraordinary optical transmission are subjected to the proportion between the strip widths. Moreover, when the asymmetric environment is considered, high-transmittance and high-absorbance states arise. Hence, by controlling the geometrical parameters of the binary-periodic structure, it is possible to tailor the spectral response of the grating enhancing the desired features and exploiting them for different applications.

In this paper we describe the design, fabrication and characterization of gold nano-patches, deposited on gallium nitride substrate, acting as optical nanoantennas able to efficiently localize the electric field at the metal-dielectric interface. We analyse the performance of the proposed device, evaluating the transmission and the electric field localization by means of a three-dimensional finite difference time domain (FDTD) method. We detail the fabrication protocol and show the morphological characterization. We also investigate the near-field optical transmission by means of scanning near-field optical microscope measurements, which reveal the excitation of a localized surface plasmon resonance at a wavelength of 633 nm, as expected by the FDTD calculations. Such results highlight how the final device can pave the way for the realization of a single optical platform where the active material and the metal nanostructures are integrated together on the same chip.