Optical properties of monolayer lattice and three-dimensional photonic crystals using dielectric spheres

The transmittance spectra for the monolayer triangle lattice using millimeter-sized Si3N4 spheres are measured and calculated at various incident angles of electromagnetic waves. From the results, the dispersion of photonic bands for the monolayer triangle lattice is obtained. Furthermore, the transmittance spectra of three-dimensional layered photonic crystals are measured for different layer numbers and different air gaps. Theoretical analysis shows that the photonic band gaps refer to the anticrossing between heavy photon bands and light photon bands. Finally, we discuss the future prospect of the photonic crystals using dielectric spheres.