PHOTONIC BAND-STRUCTURE EFFECTS IN THE VISIBLE AND NEAR-ULTRAVIOLET OBSERVED IN SOLID-STATE DIELECTRIC ARRAYS

Two-dimensional photonic band-structure effects have been observed in the visible and near-uv regions, between 350 and 800 nm. These effects appear in all-solid-state arrays of glass cylinders in a glass matrix . The arrays have center-to-center nearest-neighbor separations betwee n 0.188 and 0.278 mu m, perfect long-range order, and low refractive i ndex contrast. For light propagating perpendicular to the cylinder axe s, very narrow attenuations appear in the transmission spectra as a re sult of the photonic band structure. The positions of these attenuatio ns are determined by the periodicity, composition, and symmetry of the arrays. (C) 1996 American Institute of Physics.