Reflection in aperiodic cylindirical one-dimensional photonic crystals

Abstract

In this article, we explore the reflection from one-dimensional cylindrical photonic crystal structures. The core of investigated structures consists of stacked Gallium Arsenide (GaAs) and Aluminum Arsenide (AlAs) semiconductor disk-shaped layers, which are arranged according to periodic, Fibonacci, Thue–Morse, Double-Period, and Rudin-Shapiro sequences. By systematically calculating and comparing their reflectance spectra to conventional periodic designs using CAMFR software for rigorous numerical simulations, this research demonstrates significant improvements in tailoring optical responses. A key finding is that aperiodic structures generate multiple sharp reflection peaks when compared to periodic ones. Increasing the order of these aperiodic sequences amplifies the number of reflection peaks, enabling multi-wavelength selectivity. Furthermore, enhancing the number of periods 1 to 4 within these sequences sharpens peak widths and boosts reflectance intensity, with Double-Period structures achieving the highest reflectivity up to 25%. It is concluded that these multi-peaks in reflectance spectra can be utilized in the development of photonic crystal based sensors.