Three-dimensional photonic crystals and their applications

Abstract

We report our new approach to develop the complete three-dimensional photonic crystal and the future prospects. Our photonic crystal is constructed with GaAs (or InP) stripes stacked by a wafer-fusion technique to form an asymmetric face-centered cubic (A-FCC) structure. The stacked four layers correspond to the one-period of the A-FCC structure. The band structure has a complete photonic band gap for all wave vectors. Moreover, since the crystal is constructed with a III-V semiconductor, which is widely utilized for optoelectronic devices, by the wafer-bonding technique it is possible to introduce arbitrary defect states and light-emitters and to form an electronically active interface. Thus, once the 3D photonic crystal is realized, it will open a door for various applications including an active quantum device such as zero-threshold laser.