Photonic band-gap maps for different two dimensionally periodic photonic crystal structures.

In this paper, the photonic band-gap (PBG) maps of fundamental photonic crystal (PhC) lattices are presented, and discussed. Two fundamental types of lattice: square and hexagonal (triangular, graphite or honeycomb and kagome) with circular, square, and hexagonal hole shapes are considered. Because they show the largest area gap map and because of the relative ease of fabrication of circular holes, it can be asserted that square and triangular lattices of circular holes offer the best choice of two dimensionally periodic photonic crystal (PhC) structure. Graphite and kagome lattices of circular holes in GaAs also show large area gap maps (and the largest gap map is for the second or third higher PBG region). So graphite and kagome lattices are also relevant for exploitation in PhC devices. At the scale required, fabrication process limitations are a significant problem for the realization of hole shapes other than circular. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]