Generalized Wannier function method for photonic crystals

The concept of generalized Wannier functions, adopted from the electronic t heory of solids, is used to build a localized representation of electromagn etic waves in dielectric materials. For two-dimensional photonic crystals, we demonstrate the existence of such a localized state basis, and we establ ish an efficient computational method, allowing a tight-binding-like parame ter free modelization of any dielectric structure deviating from periodicit y. Numerical simulations of a T-shaped photonic crystal waveguide prove its ability to deal with large-scale systems and complex structures.