TRANSPARENT, METALLO-DIELECTRIC, ONE-DIMENSIONAL, PHOTONIC BAND-GAP STRUCTURES

We investigate numerically the properties of metallo-dielectric, one-d imensional, photonic band-gap structures. Our theory predicts that int erference effects give rise to a new transparent metallic structure th at permits the transmission of light over a tunable range of frequenci es, for example, the ultraviolet, the visible, or the infrared wavelen gth range. The structure can be designed to block ultraviolet light, t ransmit in the visible range, and reflect all other electromagnetic wa ves of lower frequencies, from infrared to microwaves and beyond. The transparent metallic structure is composed of a stack of alternating l ayers of a metal and a dielectric material, such that the complex inde x of refraction alternates between a high and a low value. The structu re remains transparent even if the total amount of metal is increased to hundreds of skin depths in net thickness. (C) 1998 American Institu te of Physics.