Optics of photonic quasicrystals

The physics of periodic systems are of fundamental importance and result in various phenomena that govern wave transport and interference. However, deviations from periodicity may result in higher complexity and give rise to a number of surprising effects. One such deviation can be found in the field of optics in the realization of photonic quasicrystals, a class of structures made from building blocks that are arranged using well-designed patterns but lack translational symmetry. Nevertheless, these structures, which lie between periodic and disordered structures, still show sharp diffraction patterns that confirm the existence of wave interference resulting from their long-range order. In this Review, we discuss the beautiful physics unravelled in photonic quasicrystals of one, two and three dimensions, and describe how they can influence optical transmission and reflectivity, photoluminescence, light transport, plasmonics and laser action.