Metallic photonic-band-gap filament architectures for optimized incandescent lighting

We identify an optimized three-dimensional metallic photonic-band-gap filament architecture for electrically pumped, quasithermal, visible light emission. This identification is based on extensive band structure and finite-difference time-domain calculations of metallic photonic crystals. The optimum structure consists of an inverse square-spiral photonic crystal, exhibiting a large bandwidth optical passband below the effective plasma screening frequency of the periodically structured metal. Light emission from the interior surfaces of the filament to the interior air channels occurs exclusively into the passband modes, enabling high-efficiency conversion of electrical energy into visible light.