Metallic photonic crystals at optical wavelengths

We theoretically study three-dimensional metallic photonic-band-gap (PBG) materials at near-infrared and optical wavelengths. Our main objective is to find the importance of absorption in the metal and the suitability of observing photonic band gaps in this structure. For that reason, we study simple cubic structures and the metallic scatterers are either cubes or interconnected metallic rods. Several different metals have been studied (aluminum, gold, copper, and silver). Copper gives the smallest absorption and aluminum is more absorptive. The isolated metallic cubes are less lossy than the connected rod structures. The calculations suggest that isolated copper scatterers are very attractive candidates for the fabrication of photonic crystals at the optical wavelengths.