Observation of optical activity in dielectric biomimetic 8-srs networks

We demonstrate the first experimental realization of the 8-srs network by direct laser writing in a dielectric medium. The optical properties of this photonic crystal are both numerically simulated and experimentally measured. The numerical simulations indicate a strong optical activity (OA) for regions of the spectrum close to the unit cell size (3 mu m) and a high sensitivity to angular resolution. Experimentally, we observe 40 degrees of OA for a region of the spectrum between 3 and 3.5 mu m, confirming both simulation predictions. (C) 2015 Optical Society of America