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Tunable photonic crystals with semiconducting constituents
1Instituto Nacional de Astrofisica, Optica y Electronica, Apartado Postal 51, Puebla, Puebla 72000, Mexico.
Physical Review Letters
|September 6, 2000
Summary
High free-carrier density in semiconductor photonic crystals (PCs) allows tuning of the photonic band structure (PBS). This tunability, dependent on temperature and impurity concentration, can even eliminate photonic band gaps.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Condensed Matter Physics
- Optics
Background:
- Semiconductor-based photonic crystals (PCs) exhibit unique photonic band structures (PBS).
- The dielectric properties of semiconductors are crucial for determining their optical behavior.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the tunability of the photonic band structure (PBS) in semiconductor photonic crystals (PCs).
- To explore the impact of high free-carrier density on the PBS.
- To demonstrate the dependence of PBS on temperature (T) and impurity concentration (N).
Main Methods:
- Modeling the semiconductor dielectric constant using plasma frequency (ωp).
- Calculating the 2D photonic band structure (PBS).
- Utilizing intrinsic InSb and extrinsic Ge in the simulations.
Main Results:
- The photonic band structure (PBS) becomes highly tunable with increasing free-carrier density.
- The dielectric constant, and consequently the PBS, is strongly dependent on temperature (T) and impurity concentration (N).
- It is possible to completely close or obliterate a photonic band gap.
Conclusions:
- High free-carrier density offers a pathway to actively tune semiconductor photonic crystals (PCs).
- Temperature and impurity concentration are key parameters for controlling the photonic band structure (PBS).
- This tunability has implications for designing advanced optical devices.