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Abstract: Photonic fractal with self-similar structure of dielectric medium can strongly localize the electromagnetic wave energy in the three-dimensional fractal structure. We have fabricated Menger-sponge fractal structures of epoxy by using stereolithography. Titania–silica particles were dispersed into the epoxy to increase the dielectric constant and decrease the dielectric loss. The samples have square holes of 1, 3, 9 and 27mm in edge length through the cubic body of 81mm. Four types of Menger-sponge samples with fractal stages 1–4 were subjected for measurement of microwave responses. The both reflection and transmission amplitudes were attenuated simultaneously at frequencies of 9.5, 10.5, 12.0 and 13.5GHz for each sample with fractal stages 1, 2, 3 and 4, respectively. The electromagnetic field amplitudes in the air holes measured by inserting a mono-pole antenna probe confirmed the strong localization of the electromagnetic wave in the central air cavity. The localized mode frequency can be calculated using the sample size, number of stage, and the effective dielectric constant. The localization efficiency increased according to the fractal stage number. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Millimeter-order photonic crystals with the periodic arrangement of the dielectric constant were fabricated by infiltrating the mixed slurry of ceramics and polyester into the epoxy molds with an inverse form of a diamond structure. The epoxy molds are designed and processed by using a CAD/CAM process of stereolithography. The photonic crystals were prepared to have the diamond structure of the ceramic/polyester composite lattice, which is embedded in the epoxy matrix. The ceramic powders mixed with polyester are TiO2, SrTiO3, and BaTiO3 with high dielectric constant. It is possible to control more freely and widely the dielectric constant of the photonic crystals by this method. These ceramic/resin photonic crystals formed the complete photonic band gaps in the microwave band of 7–11 GHz, which can totally reflect the electromagnetic wave for all crystal directions. Attenuation profiles of the transmission amplitude in the band gaps were controlled with the dielectric constant of the composite lattice. The obtained results fairly agreed with the theoretical simulation of the electromagnetic wave propagation through photonic crystals. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Photonic crystals with a diamond structure of epoxy lattices in which TiO[sub 2]-based ceramic particles are dispersed were fabricated by stereolithography. The periodicity of the lattice was designed to reflect electromagnetic waves in the gigahertz range. The volume fraction (β) of the dielectric lattice medium was modified from 14% to 33% by changing the rod diameter of the lattice. The photonic band gap was observed along Γ-L 〈111〉, Γ-X 〈100〉, and Γ-K 〈110〉 directions and the complete photonic band gap was formed at over β = 20%. The width of the forbidden gap increased gradually when the β increased over 14%, and reached 2.4 GHz at β = 33%. These results agreed with the band calculation using the plane wave expansion method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]