Full photonic bandgaps and spontaneous emission control in 1D multilayer dielectric structures

• Published in: Optics communications Vol. 160; no. 1; pp. 66 - 71
• Main Authors: Russell, P.St.J, Tredwell, S, Roberts, P.J
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier B.V 01.02.1999; Elsevier Science
• Subjects: Condensed matter: electronic structure, electrical, magnetic, and optical properties; Dielectric material; Exact sciences and technology; Fundamental areas of phenomenology (including applications); Optical materials; Optical properties and condensed-matter spectroscopy and other interactions of matter with particles and radiation; Optical properties of specific thin films; Optical properties of specific thin films, surfaces, and low-dimensional structures; Optics; Photonic bandgap; Photonic bandgap materials; Physics; Polarisation; Photonic bandgap; Polarisation; 85.60.J; 42.70.Q; 78.66; Dielectric material; Multilayers; Photonic band gap; Spontaneous emission; Dielectric materials; Theoretical study; Optical materials; One-dimensional systems
• ISSN: 0030-4018; 1873-0310
• DOI: 10.1016/S0030-4018(98)00659-2

It is shown that a layer of low refractive index, sandwiched between two multilayer stacks made from commonly used dielectric materials, can be designed to be completely free of all modes within a band of frequencies, i.e., to support a species of full photonic bandgap. In a slightly thicker layer, only one mode is supported. For in-plane electric field polarisation and a radiating dipole placed in the centre of the layer, the spontaneous emission coupling ratio is β SE=0.96, very high for such a simple structure.