Computational Studies of Engineered Defects in Colloidal Photonic Crystals

This thesis is an exploration of the properties of engineered defects in self-assembled photonic crystals, with particular attention paid to the complete band gap of the a-Si inverse opal. The potential of this metamaterial for optical signal processing in telecommunications is studied using a pair of complementary simulation techniques; one is a frequency-domain code, while the other is in the time domain. Calculations of photonic states associated with isolated point defects are performed, and their cavity modes, losses and field distributions are calculated. The equivalence of two classes of defects is demonstrated, and a robust, single-mode point defect microcavity is proposed. A linear defect waveguide, comprised of coupled chain of such point defects, is analyzed. Transmission around sharp bends is demonstrated, and some simple devices are considered. Several potential approaches to fabrication of the defects, the properties of various candidate materials, and more complex devices are discussed.MAS