Photonic Band Gap Materials-Theory, Techniques and Application

Abstract

Photonic Band Gap (PBG) materials are a relatively new frontier for research that allow for control of the propagation of EM waves in desired directions and at desired frequencies. The PBG materials essentially have periodic refractive index in one-, two-, or three- dimensions in the order of wavelength of the EM wave. These PBG materials take advantage of the interaction of Photons with the periodicity of the dielectric materials. Due to periodic nature certain band gap exists in the material and photons at frequencies corresponding to the band gap (or stop band) are forbidden to pass through the material. After its inception almost three decades back, extensive research has been carried out in this domain and various structures have been proposed that are able to interact with light at Photon level and produce astonishing results. They are also a perfect solution for high-frequency operation since metallic waveguides tend to be lossy at higher (especially optical) frequencies. In this paper, a review shall be presented encompassing important aspects of PBG materials including their structures, properties, potential applications, available tools for their analysis and future research trends.