Feature

Photonic Band Structure

E. Yablonovitch

There now exist three-dimensionally periodic dielectric structures that are to photon waves as semiconductor crystals are to electron waves. That is, these photonic crystals have a photonic bandgap, a band of frequencies in which electromagnetic waves are forbidden, irrespective of propagation direction in space. Photonic bandgaps provide for spontaneous emission inhibition and allow for a new class of electromagnetic micro-cavities.

Publish Date: 01 December 1991