Diffraction from carbon nanofiber arrays

We fabricate a square planar photonic crystal (PC) from carbon nanofibres (CNFs) using e-beam lithography and chemical vapour deposition and investigate the optical properties of this system. The system exhibit diffraction that is well described by diffraction theory. We measure the intensity of the (-1,0) and (-1,-1) diffraction spots as functions of angle of incidence. The radiation diagram obtained can be explained by interference between different diffraction beams. We observe a polarisation dependence of the intensity. In conclusion we suggest future applications of these structures