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The bandgap of photonic crystals can be understood as the destructive interference of multiple reflections of light propagating in the crystal at each interface between layers of high- and low- refractive index regions, akin to the bandgaps of electrons in solids. There are two strategies for opening up the complete photonic band gap.
The optical band gap (see below) determines what portion of the solar spectrum a photovoltaic cell absorbs. [18] Strictly, a semiconductor will not absorb photons of energy less than the band gap; whereas most of the photons with energies exceeding the band gap will generate heat. Neither of them contribute to the efficiency of a solar cell.
In semiconductors, the band gap of a semiconductor can be of two basic types, a direct band gap or an indirect band gap. The minimal-energy state in the conduction band and the maximal-energy state in the valence band are each characterized by a certain crystal momentum (k-vector) in the Brillouin zone. If the k-vectors are different, the ...
Alternatively, one can create a photonic bandgap photonic crystal fiber, in which the light is confined by a photonic bandgap created by the microstructured cladding—such a bandgap, properly designed, can confine light in a lower-index core and even a hollow (air) core. Bandgap fibers with hollow cores can potentially circumvent limits ...
It has been predicted theoretically [8] [9] that a 'photonic' material environment can control the rate of radiative recombination of an embedded light source. A main research goal is the achievement of a material with a complete photonic bandgap: a range of frequencies in which no electromagnetic modes exist and all propagation directions are forbidden.
Photonic crystal fibers are a variant of the microstructured fibers reported by Kaiser et al. They are an attempt to incorporate the bandgap ideas of Yeh et al. in a simple way by stacking periodically a regular array of channels and drawing into fiber form. The first such fibers did not propagate by such a bandgap but rather by an effective ...
[6] [7] Since this confinement effect along the and directions (directions of the crystal lattice) is only for a range of frequencies, it has been referred to as a photonic bandgap, since there is a discrete set of photon energies which cannot propagate in the lattice directions in the material. [6]
Silicon photonic devices can be made using existing semiconductor fabrication techniques, and because silicon is already used as the substrate for most integrated circuits, it is possible to create hybrid devices in which the optical and electronic components are integrated onto a single microchip. [6]