PHOTONIC BAND-STRUCTURE OF ZINC BLENDE TYPE PERIODIC DIELECTRIC MEDIA

The photonic band structures for two types of zinc blende structures a re computed using the plane wave expansion method. Both structures are formed from an array of dielectric balls in a vacuum background. In t he first type of structure the basis on the FCC lattice is composed of two balls of equal radii but of different dielectric composition. In the second type of structure the basis is composed of two balls of dif ferent radii which are composed of identical dielectric materials. The lowest frequency band gaps are studied in the first system as a funct ion of the dielectric contrast ratio of the balls and in the second sy stem as a function of the filling fraction ratio of the balls. Tn the first system it is found that by increasing the difference of the diel ectric constants, the frequency gap can be increased from that observe d in the limit of the diamond structure. In the second system the larg est gap is observed in the limits of the diamond structure.