Quasi-Normal Frequencies in Open Cavities: An Application to Photonic Crystals

The electromagnetic field in an optical open cavity is analyzed in the framework of the Quasi-Normal Modes theory. The role of the complex quasi-normal frequencies in the transmission coefficient and their link with the density of quasi-modes function is clarified. An application to a quarter-wave symmetric one-dimensional photonic crystals is discussed to illustrate the usefulness and the meaning of our results