Study of photonic bandgap material for infrared sensor application

The main objective of this project is to study the possible application of photonic band-gap material to filter infrared emission as used in gas sensors or thermal detection camera. The focus is to design a two-dimensional photonic crystal (periodic in two axial directions) that is able to behave differently for selected wavelengths of light. The radiation field in a photonic crystal is analyzed, where the eigenvalue problem of the wave equation is formulated and a general numerical method to solve it is concluded. The versatile properties if the photonic crystals being able to reflect, trap, and guide light of prescribed wavelengths are also indentified and the possibility to replace existing technology to produce smaller, more functional, and more powerful devices are researched upon. Fabrication techniques for the respective structures of photonic crystals are discussed and with the aid of software front, band structures from first principles using exact Maxwell equations are calculated using MIT Photonic-Bands (MPB) package and S. Guo’s package in MatLab respectively. On top of that, photonic crystal lattice structures are simulated with the use of Translight software and at the same time, obtaining reflectivity and transmittance sorted by polarization. An infrared emitter has been successfully designed and the pre-laboratory fabrication techniques present a novel and rapid method to prove that t he designed pattern does allow tweaking of the range of wavelength emitted by the filament and calculations show that manufacturability inside the microscopic dimensions is promising. This study finds interesting and useful applications in the realm of infrared emission and may find possible commercial applications, which will supercede current devices evolved from the semiconductor revolution.Bachelor of Engineering (Mechanical Engineering