Stopping, storing, and releasing light in quantum-well Bragg structures

We present a theoretical analysis of light propagation in one-dimensional resonant photonic bandgap structures (RPBGs). The analysis is aimed at evaluating the feasibility of controlled stopping, storing, and releasing of light pulses by parametric manipulation of the RPBG's bandstructure. First we lay the conceptual foundation of light-pulse delay by means of band structure control in infinite RPBGs, and then we contrast the idealized concepts with numerical results for realistic, finite-sized RPBGs. For a physical model for RPBGs, we use semiconductor quantum-well Bragg structures, but the general analysis is valid for a wider class of RPBG. We show that the usefulness of RPBGs for optical delay lines depends critically on the number of quantum wells and the dephasing and loss mechanisms in each unit cell of the RPBG, and we also outline optimization strategies in terms of spectral light characteristics as well as quasi-antireflection coating of the RPBGs. (c) 2005 Optical Society of America.