Radiation Dynamics of Photonic Crystals

Project Member(s): Botten, L., Langtry, T.

Start year: 2002

Summary: Optical communication technology is central to the information age, with the sustained performance doubling of fibre technology every nine months soon likely to overwhelm current switching networks, rendering electronic technology uncompetitve. All-optical switching and routing requires development of optical integrated circuits, key aspects of which will likely be based on photonic crystal (the optical analogue of the semiconductor) technology. We propose an innovative program to investigate these materials and design a new generation of photonic devices, using a unique, purpose-built set of design tools based on powerful computational methods that are substantially faster than conventional tools.

Keywords: Photonic Crystals; Photonic band gap materials; Optical waveguides; Optical communications; Multipole methods; Local desnsity of states

FOR Codes: Telecommunications, Physical sciences, Optics and Opto-electronic Physics, Ship and Platform Hydrodynamics, Expanding Knowledge in the Physical Sciences, Classical and Physical Optics