Photonic Crystals. Features and Applications

Photonic Crystals. Features and Applications Synopsis

The present book is focused on the study of unprecedented control and manipulation of light by photonic crystals (PCs) and their applications. These are micro- or usually nano-structures composed of periodic indexes of refraction of dielectrics with high refractive index contrast. They exhibit optical frequency band gaps in analogy to electronic bands for a periodic potential of a semiconductor crystal lattice.

The gemstone opal and butterfly's feathers colours are already referred to as natural examples of photonic crystals. The characteristics of such supper-lattices were first reported by Yablonovitch in 1987. The exploitation of photonic crystals is a promising tool in communication, sensors, optical computing, and nanophotonics.

Discussed are the various features of one-dimensional (1D) and two-dimensional (2D) photonic crystals, photonic quasi crystals, heterostuctures and PC fibres under a variety of conditions using several materials, and metamaterials. It also focuses on the applications of PCs in optical computing.