Band Structures, Applications and Preparations of Photonic Crystals

Photonic crystals are a new type of artificial materials with multi-dimensionally periodic dielectric structures. They can create a range of forbidden frequencies called photonic bandgap. Photons with energy lying in the gap cannot propagate through the medium. This has the fascinating prospect to shape and mould the flow of light for photonic information technology, and thus makes photonic crystals one of the hottest research fields nowadays. In this article the author will review the band structures, anticipated applications and preparation methods of photonic crystals.