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7 - Light in periodic structures: photonic crystals

from Part I - Electrons and electromagnetic waves in nanostructures

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 June 2012

Sergey V. Gaponenko
Sergey V. Gaponenko
Affiliation:
National Academy of Sciences of Belarus
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Summary

“I have discussed in a recent paper the propagation of waves in an infinite laminated medium …, and have shown that, however slight the variation, reflexion is ultimately total, provided the agreement be sufficiently close between the wavelength of the structure and the half-wavelength of the vibration.”

Lord Rayleigh, 1888

The photonic crystal concept

Since the time when de Broglie published his hypothesis on the wave properties of matter particles in 1923, the wave mechanics of matter has become a well-developed field of science. It has provided an explanation for the properties of atoms, molecules and solids. Furthermore, it predicted novel properties of artificial solids like quantum wells and quantum wires. As we have seen in Chapters 2 and 3, there are many common features and phenomena in wave mechanics and wave optics. At the very dawn of wave mechanics, it essentially borrowed much from wave optics.

Nowadays, the reverse process manifests itself in science. Results of quantum mechanics which are direct consequences of the wave properties of electrons and other quantum particles are transferred to classical electromagnetism, and to wave optics. These are results that are not related directly to spin and charge. Such transfers have formed a new emerging field in modern optics of inhomogeneous media with the concept of a photonic crystal at the heart of the field.

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Information
Introduction to Nanophotonics , pp. 199 - 245
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2010

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