Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 11, 2026

Using Microwave and Macroscopic Samples of Dielectric Solids to Study the Photonic Properties of Disordered Photonic Bandgap Materials
Published on: September 26, 2014
Doppler radiation emitted by an oscillating dipole moving inside a photonic band-gap crystal
Chiyan Luo1, Mihai Ibanescu, Evan J Reed
1Department of Physics and Center for Materials Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA.
Abstract:
We study the radiation emitted by an oscillating dipole moving with a constant velocity in a photonic crystal, and analyze the effects that arise in the presence of a photonic band gap. It is demonstrated through numerical simulations that the radiation strength may be enhanced or inhibited according to the photonic band structure, and anomalous effects in the sign and magnitude of the Doppler shifts are possible, both outside and inside the gap. We suggest that this effect could be used to identify the physical origin of the backward waves in recent metamaterials.
Related Concept Videos
Standing Waves in a Cavity
Doppler Effect - I
The de Broglie Wavelength
Doppler Effect - II
Determination of Crystal Structures
X-ray Crystallography
Diffraction
Diffraction is the change in the direction of travel experienced by an electromagnetic wave when it encounters a physical barrier whose dimensions are comparable to those of the wavelength of the light. X-rays are electromagnetic radiation with wavelengths about as long as the distance between neighboring...
