Differential method applied for photonic crystals

The classic differential method is applied for modeling the diffraction of light from two-dimensional photonic crystals that consist of dielectric cylindrical objects. Special attention is paid to mutual interpenetration of consecutive layers. Two algorithms for dealing with a stack of repetitive layers are discussed, namely, the eigenvalue technique and the S-matrix algorithm. Their advantages and limitations are analyzed, and times required for their implementation are compared. (C) 2000 Optical Society of America OCIS codes: 050.1940, 050.1960.