Pressure, temperature and plasma frequency effects on the band structure of a 1D semiconductor photonic crystal

In this work using the transfer-matrix formalism we study pressure, temperature and plasma frequency effects on the band structure of a 1D semiconductor photonic crystal made of alternating layers of air and GaAs. We have found that the temperature dependence of the photonic band structure is negligible, however, its noticeable changes are due mainly to the variations of the width and the dielectric constant of the layers of GaAs, caused by the applied hydrostatic pressure. On the other hand, by using the Drude's model, we have studied the effects of the hydrostatic pressure by means of the variation of the effective mass and density of the carriers in n-doped GaAs, finding firstly that increasing the amount of n-dopants in GaAs, namely, increasing the plasma frequency, the photonic band structure is shifted to regions of higher frequencies, and secondly the appearance of two regimes of the photonic band structure: one above the plasma frequency with the presence of usual Bragg gaps, and the other, below this frequency, where there are no gaps regularly distributed, with their width diminishing with the increasing of the plasma frequency as well as with the appearance of more bands, but leaving a wide frequency range in the lowest part of the spectrum without accessible photon states. Also, we have found characteristic frequencies in which the dielectric constant equals for different applied pressures, and from which to higher or lower values the photonic band structure inverts its behavior, depending on the value of the applied hydrostatic pressure. We hope this work may be taken into account for the development of new perspectives in the design of new optical devices. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.