Photonic stopbands and light transmission characteristics in GaAs-based three dimensional waveguides with large index contrast

A relatively simple technique to realize a III-V semiconductor based quasi- three-dimensional photonic crystal material with a refractive index contras t similar to 2 is described. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy measur ement reveals a stop band between 15 and 20 mu m for a sample with scatteri ng center spacing of 6.3 mu m. Another narrow transmittance dip is observab le in the wavelength range of 1.1-1.58 mu m, with an attenuation of 12 dB a t 1.18 mu m. The relation between transmission T and waveguide length L, as measured by 1.15 mu m wavelength light is either T-L-2 or T-exp(-L/L-0), i ndicating photon localization in the weakly disordered system. (C) 1999 Ame rican Institute of Physics. [S0003-6951(99)03238-6].