Band Gaps of Diamond Structured Photonic Crystals

In a three dimensional photonic crystal, an artificially formed dielectric structure, periodic along three different axes, when electromagnetic waves interact they periodically modulate the dielectric constant. A photonic band gap may form in these directions prohibiting the propagation of photons for energies that lie within the gap. Under certain conditions, there will be regions of forbidden frequencies in all the directions of propagation, creating a complete photonic band gap. These three dimensional photonic crystal with complete photonic band gap, which prohibit propagation of light in any three-dimensional directions for any polarization states, are crucial to full control of light-matter interactions and are significant for optical or optoelectronic device operation in radio to optical wavelengths [1]. This is an energy band in which optical modes, spontaneous emission, and zero point fluctuations are all absent [2].