Electromagnetic Wave Propagation in Two-Dimensional Photonic Crystals
- Iowa State Univ., Ames, IA (United States)
In this dissertation, they have undertaken the challenge to understand the unusual propagation properties of the photonic crystal (PC). The photonic crystal is a medium where the dielectric function is periodically modulated. These types of structures are characterized by bands and gaps. In other words, they are characterized by frequency regions where propagation is prohibited (gaps) and regions where propagation is allowed (bands). In this study they focus on two-dimensional photonic crystals, i.e., structures with periodic dielectric patterns on a plane and translational symmetry in the perpendicular direction. They start by studying a two-dimensional photonic crystal system for frequencies inside the band gap. The inclusion of a line defect introduces allowed states in the otherwise prohibited frequency spectrum. The dependence of the defect resonance state on different parameters such as size of the structure, profile of incoming source, etc., is investigated in detail. For this study, they used two popular computational methods in photonic crystal research, the Finite Difference Time Domain method (FDTD) and the Transfer Matrix Method (TMM). The results for the one-dimensional defect system are analyzed, and the two methods, FDTD and TMM, are compared. Then, they shift their attention only to periodic two-dimensional crystals, concentrate on their band properties, and study their unusual refractive behavior. Anomalous refractive phenomena in photonic crystals included cases where the beam refracts on the ''wrong'' side of the surface normal. The latter phenomenon, is known as negative refraction and was previously observed in materials where the wave vector, the electric field, and the magnetic field form a left-handed set of vectors. These materials are generally called left-handed materials (LHM) or negative index materials (NIM). They investigated the possibility that the photonic crystal behaves as a LHM, and how this behavior relates with the observed negatively refractive phenomena. They found that in the PC system, negative refraction is neither a prerequisite nor guarantees left-handed behavior. They examined carefully the condition to obtain left-handed behavior in the PC. They proposed a wedge type of experiment, in accordance with the experiment performed on the traditional LHM, to test these conditions. They found that for certain frequencies the PC shows left-handed behavior and acts in some respects like a homogeneous medium with a negative refractive index. they used the realistic PC system for this case to show how negative refraction occurs at the interface between a material with a positive and a material with a negative refractive index. Their findings indicate that the formation of the negatively refracted beam is not instantaneous and involves a transient time. With this time-dependent analysis, they were able to address previous controversial issues about negative refraction concerning causality and the speed of light limit. Finally, they attempt a systematic study of anomalous refractive phenomena that can occur at the air-PC interface. They observe cases where only a single refracted beam (in the positive or negative direction) is present, as well as cases with birefringence. they classify these different effects according to their origin and type of propagation (left-handed or not). For a complete study of the system, they also obtain expressions for the energy and group velocities, and show their equality. For cases with very low index contrast, band folding becomes an artificiality. They discuss the validity of their findings when they move to the limit of photonic crystals with a low index modulation.
- Research Organization:
- Ames Lab., Ames, IA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC)
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-7405-Eng-82
- OSTI ID:
- 822058
- Report Number(s):
- IS-T 2048; TRN: US200412%%385
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: TH: Thesis (Ph.D.); Submitted to Iowa State Univ., Ames, IA (US); PBD: 12 Dec 2003
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS
SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY
BIREFRINGENCE
CAUSALITY
DEFECTS
DIELECTRIC MATERIALS
ELECTRIC FIELDS
ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION
ENERGY LEVELS
LINE DEFECTS
MAGNETIC FIELDS
MODULATION
REFRACTION
REFRACTIVE INDEX
SYMMETRY
TRANSFER MATRIX METHOD
TRANSIENTS
VECTORS
VELOCITY