MadSci Network: Physics |
A photonic band gap material is a dielectric material in which the dielectric constant is made to vary periodically. This periodicity produces a set of forbidden energies for photons in the material; the range of forbidden photon energies constitute the so-called photonic band gap of the material. It is given this name because it is analogous to the electronic band gap in insulators and semiconductors. The term electronic band gap refers to the forbidden ranges of energy for electrons in these types of solids. So, the difference is that electronic band gap materials have bands of forbidden _electron_ energies, while photonic band gap materials have bands of forbidden _photon_ energies. A research group working on photonic band gap materials has a web page at: ges
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