Vertical-cavity surface-emitting resonances in photonic crystal films

It is shown that thin films of dielectric, etched through with a suitably c hosen lattice of holes, can support surface-emitting vertical resonances wi th very-high-cavity Q factors (similar to 10(5) in the case of AlxGaAs1-x o n oxidized AlyGaAs1-y). A Bloch-wave expansion is used to develop a complet e vector-field analysis of these resonances and to reveal their underlying physics. Since they do not require multilayer mirrors, such resonators are a practical and simple replacement for conventional vertical-cavity surface -emitting laser structures. Other applications include wavelength-division- multiplexing components and highly sensitive gas detectors. (C) 2001 Optica l Society of America OCIS codes: 310.6860, 230.3990, 230.5750, 250.7260, 23 0.3120.