Toward photonic-crystal metamaterials: Creating magnetic emitters in photonic crystals

In this work, we explore the possibility of designing photonic crystals to act as magnetic metamaterials: structures that exhibit magnetic properties despite the nonmagnetic character of their constituents. The building blocks of a magnetic material are microscopic magnetic dipoles, and to create a synthetic analog we employ point-defect modes in a photonic crystal. We begin by identifying a point defect mode in a three-dimensional crystal whose local field pattern resembles an oscillating magnetic moment. By analyzing the far-field pattern of the field radiated from the defect, we prove quantitatively that such modes can be designed with a primarily magnetic character: over 98% of the emitted power goes into magnetic multipole radiation. Unlike the constituents of natural paraand ferromagnetic materials, these synthetic magnetic emitters can be designed to operate without losses even at optical frequencies. © 2003 American Institute of Physics. @DOI: 10.1063/1.1544428#