Silicon Photonics / Photovoltaics

Photonic Crystals: Computational Studies

Abstract People Publications Cooperations Alumni

Photonic crystals (PCs) are artificially made periodic dielectric structures, which show novel electromagnetic properties. They allow to control the propagation of light in the IR- and in the visible range. Theoretical studies of PCs are necessary (i) to correlate the structural parameters with the resulting electromagnetic behavior and (ii) to interpret related optical experiments. In general, the electromagnetic propagation is described by Maxwell’s equations. After coding the PC model, Maxwell’s equations have to be solved numerically (eigenvalue problem). There is a variety of theoretical approaches, such as plane-wave techniques, FDTD/FEM, the transfer matrix method, and others. The theoretical properties of PCs are quantified by band structures, density of states, gap maps and by transmission - and reflection coefficients. We are working  closely together with Prof. W. Hergert, MLU Halle-Wittenberg.