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Sajeev John - General Colloquium
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October 24, 2002
PHOTONIC BAND GAP MATERIALS: SEMICONDUCTORS OF LIGHT
Sajeev John
Department of Physics, University of Toronto
http://www.physics.utoronto.ca/~john
Photonic Band Gap (PBG) materials are engineered dielectrics that provide a versatile platform for microscopically molding the flow light. Unlike semiconductors which facilitate the coherent propagation of electrons, PBG materials execute their novel functions through the localization of light. This may be important for all-optical communications and information processing. I discuss the possibility of diffractionless flow of light in air-waveguide micro-circuits in a hybrid 2D-3D PBG hetero-structure and the integration of novel active devices on this optical micro-chip. I discuss how these materials may also represent a new frontier for fundamental and unexpected phenomena in quantum and nonlinear optics.