Numerical test of the theory of pseudo-diffusive transmission at the Dirac point of a photonic band structure

✍ Scribed by R.A. Sepkhanov; C.W.J. Beenakker

• Book ID: 103873865
• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 2008
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 237 KB
• Volume: 281
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0030-4018
• DOI: 10.1016/j.optcom.2008.07.017

✦ Synopsis

It has recently been predicted that a conical singularity (=Dirac point) in the band structure of a photonic crystal produces an unusual 1=L scaling of the photon flux transmitted through a slab of thickness L. This inverse-linear scaling is unusual, because it is characteristic of radiative transport via diffusion modes through a disordered medium -while here it appears for propagation of Bloch modes in an ideal crystal without any disorder. We present a quantitative numerical test of the predicted scaling, by calculating the scattering of transverse-electric (TE) modes by a two-dimensional triangular lattice of dielectric rods in air. We verify the 1=L scaling and show that the slope differs by less than 10% from the value predicted for maximal coupling of the Bloch modes in the photonic crystal to the plane waves in free space.