Complete and absolute photonic bandgaps in highly symmetric photonic quasicrystals embedded in low refractive index materials

It is firmly established that periodic lattice structures can support photonic bandgaps (PBG). However, complete and absolute photonic bandgaps (CAPBG) have only been achieved in high dielectric constant mediums such as GaAs (o=13.6). An artificial quasiperiodic photonic crystal based on the random square-triangle tiling system was designed and fabricated. The photonic quasicrystal possesses 12-fold symmetry and was analysed using a finite difference time domain (FDTD) approach. High orders of symmetry in photonic quasicrystals have been shown to provide isotropic bandgaps across all the directions of propagation of light. As an outcome of these properties, this new class of photonic quasicrystal has been shown, for the first time, to possess a secondary non-directional CAPBG for a relatively low index material, silicon nitride (o=4.08). These materials are compatible with integrated optical technologies. This allows the fabrication of efficient integrated optical PBG devices such as WDM filters and multiplexers to become a real possibility. © 2000 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.