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Experimental Studies Of Wave Propagation In Three-Dimensional Photonic Crystals, John M. Tobias

Dissertations

Photonic crystals were proposed fifteen years ago. Propagation is selectively prevented through these crystals resulting in a photonic band gap, that is, a frequency region where light cannot propagate. These frequency bands are analogous to electronic band gaps in solid-state crystals.

The optical properties of the photonic crystal in regions near the band gap remain relatively unexplored. Yet, there is significant evidence to suggest that this avenue of investigation can provide useful optical and microwave applications. Numerical studies have predicted that the effective permittivity near the photonic band gap approaches zero and becomes negative. Selfcollimation of the propagating beam and …