Antibonding ground state in photonic crystal molecules

We employ a far-field analysis of the angular emission pattern to experimentally assess the symmetry of localized modes in coupled photonic-crystal cavities. We demonstrate that the spatial distribution of localized modes in photonic-crystal nanocavities may change from a bonding to an antibonding orbital, a feature that is unusual in quantum mechanical coupled systems. Experimental data are confirmed by numerical calculations and interpreted in terms of the peculiar oscillatory behavior of the evanescent waves in photonic-crystal band gaps.