Photonic Band Gap Materials: Engineering Light-Matter Interactions

Photonic band gap (PBG) materials are 3D periodic dielectrics that enable engineering of the most fundamental properties of electromagnetic waves. Most strikingly, they enable the trapping and localization of light. Unlike electronic micro-circuitry, optical wave-guides in a PBG micro-chip can simultaneously conduct hundreds of wavelength channels of information in a three-dimensional circuit path without loss. I review recent approaches to micro-fabrication of PBG materials, including single-beam optical lithography using a novel optical phase mask. I describe all-optical switching in a PBG wave-guide through coherent resonant interaction with an inhomogeneously broadened distribution of quantum dots. I discuss the possibility of electromagnetically induced exciton mobility in a PBG quantum well hetero-structure.