Abstract

Periodic dielectric structures possessing large photonic band gaps have been based primarily on face-centered-cubic diamond symmetry. However, photonic crystals with large photonic band gaps are also found when neighboring lattice sites in the simple cubic lattice are connected to create a connected node dielectric network. Because of the inherent simplicity of this geometry, photonic crystals based on simple cubic symmetry can be more easily and economically produced. In this review, we show graphically and quantitatively the similarities among five photonic crystals having simple cubic lattice symmetry. Structural and photonic properties of this family of crystals are compared to reveal common characteristics. We provide three-dimensional (3-D) graphics to enable the reader to visualize the relationships amongst the various structures. We provide maps of the complete photonic band gaps as a function of the dielectric volume fraction for each structure to help researchers interested in the fabrication of the structures. We also discuss the basic origin of the 3-D complete photonic band gap for the simple cubic morphology in terms of dielectric modulations along principal directions. After reviewing the set of experimentally realized simple cubic structures, we feature the promising champion single P structure accessible through 3-D interference lithography.

© 2005 Optical Society of America

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