Abstract

We report theory and experiment on modes of propagating light waves in deposited semiconductor films. The modes are excited by a novel prism-film coupler which is also used for the measurement of their phase velocities. Up to 50% of the incident laser energy has been fed into a single mode of propagation. The positions and linewidths of the modes, the wave intensity inside the film, and a dramatic view of the mode spectrum displayed by the scattered light are discussed in detail.