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Updated: Feb 20, 2026
Using Microwave and Macroscopic Samples of Dielectric Solids to Study the Photonic Properties of Disordered Photonic Bandgap Materials
Published on: September 26, 2014
Novel Pyrochlorelike Crystal with a Photonic Band Gap Self-Assembled Using Colloids with a Simple Interaction
Harini Pattabhiraman1, Guido Avvisati1, Marjolein Dijkstra1
1Soft Condensed Matter, Debye Institute for Nanomaterials Science, Department of Physics, Utrecht University, Princetonplein 5, 3584 CC Utrecht, Netherlands.
Abstract:
Using computer simulations, we investigate the phase behavior of a system of particles interacting with a remarkably simple repulsive square-shoulder pair potential and report the formation of a novel (and stable) pyrochlorelike crystal phase. The lattice structure of the pyrochlorelike phase formed in our simulations possesses two inherent length scales corresponding to the inter- and intratetrahedral neighbors. We show that it can be used to fabricate a photonic crystal which displays complete photonic band gaps in both the direct and inverted dielectric structures.
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