Vol. 34, No.

11

Journal of Semiconductors

November 2013

Influence of incident angle on the defect mode of locally doped photonic crystal
Wang Jin()1 , Wen Tingdun()1; , Xu Liping()1 , and Liu Zufan()2
1 Department
2 China

of Physics, North University of China, Taiyuan 030051, China

Aviation Lithium Battery Co., Ltd, Luoyang 471000, China

Abstract: By means of a transfer matrix method, this paper deduces the transmittance calculation equation of light
travelling in locally doped (including one defect layer) mirror heterostructure (ABCCBA)P D(ABCCBA)Q photonic
crystals. In the cases of defect layers being either introduced or not introduced, an ORIGIN simulation shows
the influence of incident angle change on the number of photon band gap, bandwidth and defect mode numbers.
Studies indicate that when such photonic crystals have 8 mirror cycles and the thickness of defect layer D meets
nD dD D 0 =2 or nD dD D 40 , the photonic crystal defect mode transmission peak changes significantly. Also,
with the change of incident angle, the number of defect mode transmission peaks changes. By altering incident
angle and defect layer thickness, we can get photon band gaps and defect mode transmission peaks at different
frequency domains and different relative angular frequencies. This provides theoretical reference for achieving
light wave multi-channel filtering and tunable filtering.
Key words: photonic crystal; defect mode; incident angle; locally doped; transfer matrix method
DOI: 10.1088/1674-4926/34/11/112003
PACC: 4230D; 4270Q; 7820P

1. Introduction
The concept of photonic crystal was advanced in 1987
by both Yablonovitch1 at the Baer Lab, USA, and John2 at
Princeton University, USA, respectively. The former studied
it from the perspective of inhibiting the spontaneous radiation
of the light while the latter from the angle of the photon localization in the superlattice. Photonic crystal has important characteristics such as photonic band gap, Anderson photon localarea effect, and inhibition of spontaneous radiation. In 1990,
researchers Ho et al. from Ames Lab, Iowa State University,
USA, verified the existence of the photonic band gap. Since
the photonic band gap excludes the existence of photons in its
frequency range, it can be used to make high efficiency low
loss reflectors, broadband band-stop filters, very narrow band
frequency selecting filters, etc. Moreover, the photonic crystals local area feature obtained by the introduction of a defect
layer can be utilized in photonic crystal waveguides, photonic
crystal micro cavities, photonic crystal quantum cascade lasers,
etc3 6 .
Recent years have witnessed considerable investigation
efforts both at home and abroad on one-dimensional, twodimensional and three-dimensional photonic crystal. However,
the majority of these studies are concerned with heterogeneous
dual-periodical photonic crystal such as Am Bn Am Bn Am Bn ,
with defect layers introduced7 9 . Chen et al.10 adopted the
transfer matrix method and studied the feasibility of using
Si/C60 multilayer films as one-dimensional photonic band gap
crystal by theoretical calculations. Xiao and Yang11 presented
both theoretical and experimental investigations on the filtering characteristics for metal/dielectric photonic crystals with
hexagonal round hole arrays in optically thin gold/silicon dioxide films by varying the array periodicity from 6 to 8 m ev-

ery 1 m while the radio of hole radius to array periodicity is

kept constant (1/4). Based on the 1D doped photonic crystal
(AB)N C(BA)N model, Reference [12] studied the change of
defect mode frequency with different incident angle, thickness
of impurities and refractive index of impurities. Recently, Kedia, Kumar and Singh13 adopted the self-assembly technique
and produced three-dimensional polymeric photonic crystal
that can yield multiple optical vortices (OVs). However, little attention has been paid to the locally doped mirror triply
periodic photonic crystal heterostructures (MTPPCH). In order to gain clear understanding of the optical characteristics of
such crystals so that they can be better applied, this paper primarily studies the influence of incident angle change on the
photon band gap and defect mode when photonic plane waves
approach the surface of MTPPCH, and research is carried out
in the presence or absence of defect layers. In addition, we also
utilize ORIGIN to simulate the above-mentioned research. The
simulations and analysis reveal that the photonic crystals have
8 mirror cycles and the thickness of defect layer D satisfies
nD dD D 0 =2 or nD dD D 40 , via altering the incident angle,
the notable changes of defect mode could be discovered. This
investigation will provide an important reference for the design
of multi-channel and optical tunable filters.

2. Modeling
Figure 1 shows the model of a photonic crystal consisting of three materials with the refraction index of nA D 1.45
(SiO2 /, nB D 2.35 (ZnS), nC D 2.60 (TiO2 / respectively. It is
located between two uniform media with a refraction index of
n0 and nG and composed of N mirror cycles. Each mirror cycle has six thin layers: A, B, C, C, B, A and N cycles grow
alternatively. In the middle of the photonic crystal, D repre-

* Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 60776062, 50730009).
Corresponding author. Email: tdwen@nuc.edu.cn
Received 3 April 2013, revised manuscript received 4 June 2013
2013 Chinese Institute of Electronics

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J. Semicond. 2013, 34(11)

Fig. 1. Locally doped photonic crystal model diagram (ABCCBA)P D(ABCCBA)Q .

Wang Jin et al.

"0 p
"A
0

!
n d
c A A

where A D
cos A , A D
cos A . A indicates the phase difference of the plane wave of wave vector k
vertically across the two interfaces in the medium.
For each period of the photonic crystal consisting of six
layers of dielectric films ABCCBA, each layer has a specific
n and d . Thus, the fields of the first and the last interface are
related by Eq. (4), that is
 
 
E7
E1
D MA MB MC MC MB MA
;
H1
H7
M D MA MB MC MC MB MA :

sents the defect layer, with refraction index nD D 1.80. Thus,

the structural arrangement of the photonic crystal can be expressed as (ABCCBA)P D(ABCCBA)Q , where P and Q represent the number of cycles at both sides of the defect layer,
and P C Q D N .

3. Methodologythe transfer matrix method

Assume that the incident monochromatic plane wave is a
linearly polarized light, and it can be divided into a TE wave
whose electric vector is perpendicular to the incident surface
and a TM wave whose electric vector is parallel to the incident
plane. Due to the fact that the boundary conditions of the vertical component and the parallel component of E at the medium
mutation are independent, the two waves are therefore independent to each other. Taking TE waves for instance, assume
that the periodic dielectric film is uniform and non-magnetic,
and there will be an electromagnetic field distribution in the
film when the TE wave approaches the surface of the film A
from the air with an incident angle of  . With Maxwell equations, we can get the wave equation14 16 of light in any layer
of medium:
@2 Ey
C kz Ey D 0:
(1)
@z 2
The general solution of the equation can be expressed as:
Ey .z/ D Ei1 ejkj .z

zj /

C Er1 e

jkj .z zj /

(2)

Now consider the example of interface 1 between the air

and medium A, and interface 2 between mediums and B. According to the electromagnetic field theory, the tangential component of electric polarization E and magnetic polarization H
is continuous at the interface between two media. With these
boundary consistency conditions, we can get the linear relation between the two fields at the two interfaces, expressed in
matrix form as follows:
3
2
sin A  
 
j
E2
E1
6 cos A
A 7
(3)
D4
5 H :
H1
2
jA sin A
cos A
Let

3
sin A
j
6 cos A
A 7
MA D 4
5, then
jA sin A
cos A
 
 
E1
E2
D MA
H1
H2

(4)

(5)

By means of recursion, we can get the transfer matrix

of photonic crystals (ABCCBA)P D(ABCCBA)Q between the
two homogeneous media whose refractive index is n0 and nG ,
respectively:
 




E1
P
Q EtG
0 EtG
D M MD M
DM
;
(6)
H1
HtG
HtG
 0

0
M11 M12
where M 0 D M P MD M Q D
: It can be calcu0
0
M21
M22
lated:
Transmission coefficient:
tD

EtG
20
D
:
E1
M11 0 C M12 0 G C M21 C M22 G

(7)

Transmittance:
T D t
t  D jt j2 :

(8)

4. Research and analysis of the model

Ignoring the dispersion and polarization of the material,
the center wavelength in this article is taken as nA dA D
nB dB D nC dC D 0 =6 nm. Discussions about the influence
of the incident angle  on the photonic band gap and defect
mode are presented as follows, in the cases of defect layer being introduced and not introduced respectively.
4.1. Influence of incident angle on the photonic band gap
of the photonic crystal (ABCCBA)P (ABCCBA)Q
Through ORIGIN software simulation, we find that the
unique characteristics of the photonic crystal with such structure are most prominent when it has 8 mirror cycles and its defect layer is located in the center of the periodic photonic crystal. For the purpose of comparison, Figures 2(a)2(d) show the
change of photon band gap with varied incident angle when
a defect layer is not introduced into the 8-period mirror photonic crystals and the incident angle is 0, /6, /4 and /3.
The film thickness of A, B and C are related in the equation
nA dA D nB dB D nC dC D 0 =6. It can be found that the
frequency domain of the photonic band gap widens with the
increase of incident angle, which means the photonic band gap
narrows and moves towards high frequency. Besides, a new
photonic band gap can be found between a relative angular frequency of 1.52.0 and 3.03.5. The above phenomenon can be
explained by noting that a portion of the light will be completely reflected with the incident angle  changing.

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J. Semicond. 2013, 34(11)

Wang Jin et al.

Fig. 2. Transmission spectrum of (ABCCBA)P (ABCCBA)Q with the

changes of the incident angle. (a)  D 0, (b)  D /6, (c)  D /4, (d)
 D /3.

4.2. Influence of incident angle on the defect

mode of locally doped photonic crystal (ABCCBA)P D(ABCCBA)Q
When an nD dD D 0 =2 thick defect layer located in the
center of the photonic crystal is introduced into the above 8 period photonic crystal, Figure 3 simulates the change of photon
band gap with varied incident angle of 0, /6, /4 and /3. As
shown in Fig. 3(a), in the case of normal incidence, a transmission peak with the transmittance of 95.9% can be observed simultaneously at the relative angular frequency of 0.494, 2.506
and 3.494. It is shown in Figs. 3(b)3(d) that, with the increase
of incident angle, the photon band gap and transmission peak
move towards high frequency, the frequency domain of photon band gap widens and the transmittance of the transmission
peak tends to decrease. At the same time, along with the generation of new photonic band gap between 1.02.0 and 3.0
3.5, some original non-noteworthy photonic band gaps disappear by degrees. At the relative angular frequency of 0.512,
0.532 and 0.555, the transmittance of the transmission peak
are respectively 95.8%, 99.7% and 99.8%. At the relative angular frequency of 2.602, 2.714 and 2.844, however, the ratio
changed to 95.8%, 85.3% and 97.0%, respectively. But, overall, the transmittance of transmission peaks heightens gradually. It can be found that with the increase of incident angle,
the original insignificant photon band gap at the relative angular frequency of 1.52.0 and 2.53.5 gradually disappears
and a new photon band gap emerges. This may be due to the
strengthening or weakening of light at a certain relative angular
frequency with the increase of incident angle, which makes the
upper band edge of the original insignificant photon band gap
couple with the lower band edge of its adjacent photon band
gap, thus producing a significant photon band gap.
Figure 4 illustrates the change of transmission peak and
photon band gap with varied incident angle when the thickness

Fig. 3. Transmission spectrum of photonic crystals of 8 cycles (ABCCBA)P D(ABCCBA)Q and the thickness is nD dD D 0 =2 with the
changes of the incident angle: (a)  D 0, (b)  D /6, (c)  D /4,
(d)  D /3.

of layer A, B, C and defect layer D meets nA dA D nB dB D

nC dC D 0 =6 and nD dD D 40 . In the case of normal incidence, two symmetrical transmission peaks with their ratio
close to 1 emerge around the center of relative angular frequency 0.5, 2.5 and 3.5. Meanwhile, around the relative angular frequency 1.0 and 2.0, two insignificant transmission peaks
with the ration of 1 also emerge. With the increase of incident
angle, these transmission peaks and photon band gap move towards high frequency. The transmittance of the transmission
peak at the lower frequency gradually decreases and the photon
band gap frequency domain widens. In the position between
relative angular frequency 1.52.0 and 3.03.5 where there was
no photon band gap, photon band gaps can be observed to move
towards high frequency. It can also be seen that the transmittance of the transmission peak at high frequency changes without a common rule. In Figs. 4(a)4(d), the ratio of the transmission peaks at the relative angular frequency 2.544, 2.646,
2.763 and 2.896 are respectively 99.8%, 90.6%, 86.2% and 1.
Also, in Fig. 4(d), a significant transmission peak with the ratio of 1 gradually emerges at the relative angular frequency
1.174; while at the relative angular frequency 2.691 and 3.356
where there was no transmission peak, new peaks with the ratio of 94.7% and 98.1% have emerged. Since the root cause
of the resonant transmission is the defect layer, whose optical
thickness is consistent with its defect mode frequency, it can
be concluded that the resonant transmission17 is caused by
the interference of the reflected wave and the travelling wave
when the optical thickness of the defect layer equals four optical wavelengths. Two transmission peaks with high transmittance emerged at certain relative angular frequency in the case
of normal incidence. When the incident angle increases to a
certain degree, the lower band edge of the stop band overlaps
the upper band edge of its adjacent stop band, thus producing a

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Wang Jin et al.

By altering the angle of the incident light, we can get the
defect mode transmission peaks at different relative angular
frequencies. This can be used to achieve multi-channel filtering. Also, the changing rule of the defect mode transmission
peak with varied defect layer thickness is able to provide a certain theoretical basis upon which to manufacture tunable filters.

References

Fig. 4. Transmission spectrum of photonic crystals of 8 cycles (ABCCBA)P D(ABCCBA)Q and the thickness is nD dD D 40 with the
changes of the incident angle:(a)  D 0, (b)  D /6, (c)  D /4,
(d)  D /3.

new defect mode. This can be explained by the tight binding approximation theory in solid state physics. When TEM waves of
different energy are incident on the interface, multiple reflections occur on the interface which leads to the localization of
electromagnetic field energy in a special interface. The strength
of the transmission peak is caused by the strength of the field
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5. Conclusions
By means of the transfer matrix method and ORIGIN software, this paper studies the influence of incident angle changes
on the photon band gap and defect mode transmission peak, in
the cases of defect layers being introduced or not introduced
into the MTPPCH. Results show that, in the case of normal incidence when the defect layer thickness meets nD dD D 0 =2
or nD dD D 40 , a significant transmission peak with ratio
of 95.9% emerged at the relative angular frequency of 0.494,
2.506 and 3.494, while two symmetrical significant transmission peaks with their ratio close to 1 emerged around the center of relative angular frequency 0.5, 2.5 and 3.5. It is also observed that with the increase of incident angle, the photon band
gap and transmission peak move towards high frequency and
the transmittance decreases. In addition, a new stable photon
band gap and significant transmission peaks can be observed
to come into being.

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