Abstract

In analogy to electrons in a crystal, the propagation of electromagnetic (EM) waves in a three-dimensional dielectric structure can be forbidden for a certain range of frequencies. These three-dimensional structures that are called photonic band gap crystals, have recently received both theoretical and experimental attention [1–3]. The early research in the field has concentrated on possible optical frequency range applications that take advantage of reduced spontaneous emission, such as thresholdless semiconductor lasers and single-mode light-emitting diodes. The proposed applications were later extended to the millimeter and sub-millimeter wave regime, like efficient antennas, sources, waveguides and other components that take advantage of the unique properties of photonic bandgap materials [4]. But, the difficulties associated with the fabrication of smaller scale structures along with the unfeasible three-dimensional structure designs, have restricted the experimental demonstration of the basic photonic band gap crystals to microwave frequencies (12–15 GHz).

© 1995 Optical Society of America