• Open Access

Cartesian light: Unconventional propagation of light in a three-dimensional superlattice of coupled cavities within a three-dimensional photonic band gap

Sjoerd A. Hack, Jaap J. W. van der Vegt, and Willem L. Vos
Phys. Rev. B 99, 115308 – Published 12 March 2019

Abstract

We explore the unconventional propagation of light in a three-dimensional (3D) superlattice of coupled resonant cavities in a 3D photonic band-gap crystal. Such a 3D cavity superlattice is the photonic analog of the Anderson model for spins and electrons in the limit of zero disorder. Using the plane-wave expansion method, we calculate the dispersion relations of the 3D cavity superlattice with the cubic inverse woodpile structure that reveal five coupled-cavity bands, typical of quadrupole-like resonances. For three out of five bands, we observe that the dispersion bandwidth is significantly larger in the (kx,kz)-diagonal directions than in other directions. To explain the directionality of the dispersion bandwidth, we employ the tight-binding method from which we derive coupling coefficients in three dimensions. For all converged coupled-cavity bands, we find that light hops predominantly in a few high-symmetry directions including the Cartesian (x,y,z) directions, therefore we propose the name “Cartesian light.” Such 3D Cartesian hopping of light in a band gap yields propagation as superlattice Bloch modes that differ fundamentally from the conventional 3D spatially extended Bloch wave propagation in crystals, from light tunneling through a band gap, from coupled-resonator optical waveguiding, and also from light diffusing at the edge of a gap.

  • Figure
  • Figure
  • Figure
  • Figure
  • Figure
  • Figure
  • Figure
3 More
  • Received 11 December 2018
  • Revised 30 January 2019

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.99.115308

Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI.

Published by the American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

  1. Research Areas
  1. Physical Systems
Atomic, Molecular & Optical

Authors & Affiliations

Sjoerd A. Hack1,2,*, Jaap J. W. van der Vegt2,†, and Willem L. Vos1,‡

  • 1Complex Photonic Systems (COPS), MESA+ Institute for Nanotechnology, University of Twente, P.O. Box 217, 7500 AE Enschede, The Netherlands
  • 2Mathematics of Computational Science (MACS), MESA+ Institute for Nanotechnology, University of Twente, P.O. Box 217, 7500 AE Enschede, The Netherlands

  • *s.a.hack@utwente.nl
  • j.j.w.vandervegt@utwente.nl
  • Corresponding author: w.l.vos@utwente.nl

Article Text

Click to Expand

References

Click to Expand
Issue

Vol. 99, Iss. 11 — 15 March 2019

Reuse & Permissions
Author publication services for translation and copyediting assistance advertisement

Authorization Required


×
×

Images

×

Sign up to receive regular email alerts from Physical Review B

Reuse & Permissions

It is not necessary to obtain permission to reuse this article or its components as it is available under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI are maintained. Please note that some figures may have been included with permission from other third parties. It is your responsibility to obtain the proper permission from the rights holder directly for these figures.

×

Log In

Cancel
×

Search


Article Lookup

Paste a citation or DOI

Enter a citation
×