Deformation-induced bandgap tuning of 2D silicon-based photonic crystals

We address the issue of tuning the absolute bandgap in 2D silicon-based photonic crystals by mechanical deformation. The moving least-square (MLS) method, recently proposed by the authors for photonic bandgap materials, is employed for the real-space computation of band structures. The uniaxial tension mode is shown to be more effective for bandgap tuning than both pure and simple shear deformations. We verify that bandgap modifications are strongly influenced by the deformation-induced distortion of interfaces between inclusions and matrix. This result ensures the usefulness of real-space technique for the accurate calculation of strained photonic bandgap materials.