An optical surface resonance may render photonic crystals ineffective

TL;DR

This paper investigates intense surface resonances in photonic crystals that hinder photon coupling, and demonstrates how surface geometry modifications can tune or eliminate these resonances to improve their practical utility.

Contribution

It identifies the cause of surface resonances in photonic crystals and proposes a method to control or eliminate them through surface geometry modifications.

Findings

Surface resonances can be tuned or eliminated by geometry changes.

Modifying surface geometry improves photon coupling efficiency.

Surface resonances significantly impact photonic crystal performance.

Abstract

In this work we identify and study the presence of extremely intense surface resonances that frustrate the coupling of photons into a photonic crystal over crucial energy ranges. The practical utility of photonic crystals demands the capability to exchange photons with the external medium, therefore, it is essential to understand the cause of these surface resonances and a route to their elimination. We demonstrate that by modifying the surface geometry it is possible to tune the optical response or eliminate the resonances to enable full exploitation of the photonic crystal.