Photonic bandgaps in two-dimensional semiconductor-dielectric composite crystals

摘要

This paper reports the multiple bandgaps in the two-dimensional semiconductor-dielectric photonic crystals of several compositions: semiconductor (dielectric) thin cylinders in the dielectric (semiconductor) background. We consider both square and triangular lattice arrangements and compute extensive band structures using a plane-wave method within the framework of an efficient standard eigenvalue problem for both E and H polarizations. The whole range of filling fractions has been explored to claim the existence of the lowest (the so-called acoustic bandgap) and multiple higher-frequency bandgaps within the first 30-40 bands for various compositions. The completeness of the existing bandgaps is substantiated through the computation of the band structures via detailed scanning of the principal symmetry directions covering periphery as well as the interior of the irreducible part of the first Brillouin zone and through the computation of the density of states. In general, the composition made up of doped semiconducting cylinders in the insulating background is found to be the optimum case for both geometries. Such semiconductor-dielectric photonic crystals that are shown to possess huge lowest bandgaps below a threshold frequency (the plasma frequency) have an advantage over the dielectric photonic crystals in the emerging technology based on the photonic crystals. (c) 2006 Optical Society of America.