Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.

Science 9 July 2004:
Vol. 305. no. 5681, pp. 187 - 188
DOI: 10.1126/science.1100434
Prev | Table of Contents | Next

Perspectives

PHYSICS:
Woodpiles for Photons

Reinald Hillebrand and Ulrich Gösele

With the right design and size, a periodic structure can exhibit unusual and useful optical properties. In particular, photonic crystals can be fabricated in which photons experience a band gap analogous to the band gap for electrons in a solid crystal. In their Perspective, Hillebrand and Gösele discuss results reported in the same issue by Ogawa et al. in which a structure known as a three-dimensional photonic crystal of woodpile geometry has been fabricated from gallium arsenide. The structures contain a light-emitting layer whose wavelengths correspond to the band gap of the photonic crystal. The output of light is suppressed, but it can take place, and even be controlled via the local point defect modes. The ability to fabricate such integrated devices represents a major step forward in creating complex photonic circuits for optical communications.

The authors are at the Max Planck Institute of Microstructure Physics, Weinberg 2, D-06120 Halle, Germany. E-mail: hi{at}mpi-halle.de) (R.H.), goesele{at}mpi-halle.de (U.G)

Read the Full Text

To Advertise     Find Products

Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)