A Study of Properties of the Photonic Band Gap of Unmagnetized Plasma Photonic Crystal

Abstract

In this study, the propagation of electromagnetic waves in one-dimensional plasma photonic crystals (PPCs), namely, superlattice structures consisting alternately of a homogeneous unmagnetized plasma and dielectric material, is simulated numerically using the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) algorithm. A perfectly matched layer (PML) absorbing technique is used in this simulation. The reflection and transmission coefficients of electromagnetic (EM) waves through PPCs are calculated. The characteristics of the photonic band gap (PBG) are discussed in terms of plasma density, dielectric constant ratios, number of periods, and introduced layer defect. These may provide some useful information for designing plasma photonic crystal devices.