Fano-Hopfield model and photonic band gaps for an arbitrary atomic lattice

TL;DR

This paper investigates light dispersion in arbitrary atomic lattices using a renormalized Fano-Hopfield model, revealing an omnidirectional photonic band gap in diamond lattices and deriving a Lorentz-Lorenz relation for general structures.

Contribution

It extends the Fano-Hopfield model to arbitrary lattices with systematic renormalization and demonstrates the existence of omnidirectional gaps in diamond lattices.

Findings

Omnidirectional photonic band gap found in diamond lattice.

Systematic renormalization approach used in the model.

Derivation of Lorentz-Lorenz relation for arbitrary lattices.

Abstract

We study the light dispersion relation in a periodic ensemble of atoms at fixed positions in the Fano-Hopfield model (the atomic dipole being modeled with harmonic oscillators). Compared to earlier works, we do not restrict to cubic lattices, and we do not regularize the theory by hand but we renormalize it in a systematic way using a Gaussian cut-off in momentum space. Whereas no omnidirectional spectral gap is known for light in a Bravais atomic lattice, we find that, for a wide range of parameters, an omnidirectional gap occurs in a diamond atomic lattice, which may be realized in an experiment with ultra-cold atoms. The long-wavelength limit of the theory also provides a Lorentz-Lorenz (or Clausius-Mossotti) relation for an arbitrary lattice.