Photonic crystals and devices

Abstract

During the revolution in electronic industry in the last decades, understanding and applications of electronic phenomena and materials have experienced a tremendous advancement. The technology relies on electron-operated devices and circuits, such as transistors, capacitors, inductors, interconnects, and dielectrics. In comparison, light has three main advantages over electrons, running 1,000 × faster, with negligible heat dissipation and fast switching. A natural tendency is to build the devices and circuits operated by photons. Light, which is an electromagnetic wave, is being widely utilized as a signal carrier in today's communication technology, and is likely the driver in future computer chips. However, comparing to our ability to control the electrons in conductors, semiconductors, and insulators, it is still challenging to manipulate the flow of light in the "circuit." Challenges exist in the miniaturization and integration of optical devices such as waveguide, switch, splitter, and detector. Over a decade ago, it is predicted theoretically that the propagation of light can be manipulated and controlled using a periodic structure, as electron transport in semiconductors, which is called photonic crystal (PC) [1,2]. This phenomenon explored a new approach for the manipulation of photon in a much more reduced dimensions, thus it is very promising to realize more advanced optical devices with smaller sizes and higher functionality. © 2006 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.