Modal transmission-line theory of three-dimensional periodic structures with arbitrary lattice configurations

The scattering of waves by multilayered periodic structures is formulated in three-dimensional space by using Fourier expansions for both the basic lattice and its associated reciprocal lattice. The fields in each layer are then expressed in terms of characteristic modes, and the complete solution is found rigorously by using a transmission-line representation to address the pertinent boundary-value problems. Such an approach can treat periodic arbitrary lattices containing arbitrarily shaped dielectric components, which may generally be absorbing and have biaxial properties along directions that are parallel or perpendicular to the layers. We illustrate the present approach by comparing our numerical results with data reported in the past for simple structures. In addition, we provide new results for more complex configurations, which include multiple periodic regions that contain absorbing uniaxial components with several possible canonic shapes and high dielectric constants. (C) 2002 Optical Society of America.