Quantum theory of a resonant photonic crystal

We present a quantum model of two-level atoms localized in a three-dimensional lattice based on the Hopfield polariton theory. In addition to a polaritonic gap at the excitation energy, a photonic band gap opens up at the Brillouin zone boundary. Upon tuning the lattice period or angle of incidence to match the photonic gap with the excitation energy, one obtains a combined polaritonic and photonic gap as a generalization of Rabi splitting. For typical experimental parameters, the size of the combined gap is on the order of 25cm −1 , up to 10 5 times the detuned gap size. The dispersion curve contains a branch supporting slow-light modes with vanishing probability density of atomic excitations.Published versio