Abstract

With recent advances in semiconductor layering and surface patterning, it is possible to create precisely defined three-dimensional (3D) architectures within semiconductor crystals. A fundamental architecture for new photonic properties is a 3D periodically modulated index of refraction.¹ We call such a structure a photonic lattice, since it possesses translation symmetry much like a crystal lattice and emits complex radiation patterns that reflect its periodic structure. These patterns provide a direct probe of the optical Bloch states in the lattice. These optical Bloch states are analogous to electron Bloch wave functions in an atomic lattice.²

© 1992 Optical Society of America