ACCURATE THEORETICAL-ANALYSIS OF PHOTONIC BAND-GAP MATERIALS

Two improvements for the solution of Maxwell's equations in periodic d ielectric media are introduced, abandoning the plane-wave cutoff and i nterpolating the dielectric function. These improvements permit the ac curate study of previously inaccessible systems. Example calculations are discussed, employing a basis of approximately 10(6) plane waves fo r which these two improvements reduce both the memory and central proc essing unit requirements by approximately 10(4).