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P Halevi

Publications and source records attributed to P Halevi.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Electrically tuned phase transition and band structure in a liquid-crystal-infilled photonic crystal.

We studied a nematic liquid crystal (LC) cylinder under the action of an axial electric field E(0). Elaborate modeling of the free energy leads to the conclusion that the configuration of the molecules is "escaped radial" for low E(0); a phase transition, however, occurs for a critical value E(c), the configuration becoming axial for E(0) >E(c). From these results, the position-dependent dielectric tensor is determined and the photonic band (PB) structure is calculated for a photonic crystal of LC cylinders. It is shown that by varying E(0) a PB gap can be fully tuned from open to closed. Also, switching to a supercritical field can give rise to interesting polarization and directional effects in the propagation of light.

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PubMed2005

Spontaneous emission in one-dimensional photonic crystals.

We study the spontaneous emission of an atom embedded in a one-dimensional photonic crystal or superlattice using a classical electrodynamic theory of radiation. The rate of emission is a function of the frequency of the emitted photon, the dipole's position and orientation, as well as the geometric and material parameters of the superlattice. The emission spectrum shows an oscillatory behavior which follows the photonic band structure. For TE modes, there are frequency regions where radiative emission is completely prohibited due to the absence of modes with k//>omega/c; the radiation is then TM polarized. In addition to the radiative modes, there are always evanescent modes with k//>omega/c which are waveguided by the dielectric layers. The evanescent contribution to the spontaneous emission is dominant if a dielectric layer is in the near field region of the dipole. For TM modes, emission rates greatly vary for parallel and perpendicular dipole moments. In a photonic crystal with a high filling fraction of the dielectric and perpendicular dipoles located in the low-index layer, the decay rate can be as much as 76 times the free space value for a single atom and 50 times for a gas of atoms. We also find that the rate of emission presents a strong dependence on the atom's position.

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PubMed2002

Dipole radiation in a one-dimensional photonic crystal. II. TM polarization.

As in a recent paper [I. Alvarado-Rodríguez, P. Halevi, and Adán S. Sánchez, Phys. Rev. E 63, 056613 (2001); 65, 039901(E) (2002)], we study the power emitted by an oscillating dipole in a superlattice (SL) modeled by means of a periodic distribution of Dirac-delta functions (Dirac-comb SL). However, while in the aforementioned paper the radiation was restricted to the transverse electric (TE) polarization mode, here we focus our attention on the transverse magnetic (TM) mode. Employing the same methodology, again we find that the power spectra are dominated by slope discontinuities. These occur - if at all - at the band edges for on-axis propagation, depending on the dipole's position and orientation. The largest enhancement or inhibition is present for normalized frequencies such that (omegad/c) less, similar 2pi; here, omega is the dipole frequency, c is the speed of light in vacuum, and d is the distance between the barriers. For substantial values of the grating strength considerable enhancement or suppression of the radiated power (in comparison to the free-space value) is obtained. We also find that the power emitted by a gas of randomly oriented dipoles exhibits slope discontinuities at all band edges for on-axis propagation. In comparison with the TE polarization case, the TM polarization exhibits several different qualitative features.

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PubMed2001

Dipole radiation in a one-dimensional photonic crystal: TE polarization.

We study the power emitted by an oscillating dipole in a superlattice (SL) modeled by means of a periodic distribution of Dirac delta functions (Dirac comb SL). The radiation is permitted to propagate in all directions in space; however, it is restricted to the transverse electric (TE) polarization mode. The calculation is based on a classical theory of radiation in nonuniform dielectric media by Dowling and Bowden [Phys. Rev. A 46, 612 (1992)]. The emitted power is derived in terms of a single integral, with no approximations. A SL has no omnidirectional photonic band gaps, and therefore the power is always finite. The power spectrum exhibits slope discontinuities, which occur at the band edges for on-axis propagation. It also depends strongly on the dipole's position in the SL and on the grating strength that characterizes the Dirac comb model. The power peaks for low frequencies, and there can be large enhancement of emission as compared to free space. The closer the dipole is to a barrier (Dirac delta) and the greater the grating strength, the stronger the enhancement is. These conclusions are expected to be relevant for a real SL.

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PubMed2000

Tunable photonic crystals with semiconducting constituents

We propose that the photonic band structure (PBS) of semiconductor-based photonic crystals (PCs) can be made tunable if the free-carrier density is sufficiently high. In this case, the dielectric constant of the semiconductor, modeled as varepsilon(omega) = varepsilon(0)(1-omega(2)(p)/omega(2)), depends on the temperature T and on the impurity concentration N through the plasma frequency omega(p). Then the PBS is strongly T and N dependent; it is even possible to obliterate a photonic band gap. This is shown by calculating the 2D PBS for PCs that incorporate either intrinsic InSb or extrinsic Ge.

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PubMed2000

Density of states for a dielectric superlattice. II. TM polarization

We present an analysis of the band structure, the equifrequency surfaces, and the density of states (DOS) for the transverse magnetic (TM) polarization mode of the dielectric superlattice, modeled by means of Dirac-delta functions. This complements a recent article [Phys. Rev E 59, 3624 (1999)] that analyzes the case of transverse electric (TE) polarization. Unfortunately, for this simple model, there is no manifestation of the Brewster effect in the band structure for the TM modes. For large values of the frequency or the grating strength, the equifrequency surfaces essentially degenerate into a set of concentric, hollow, and narrow cylinders centered on the superlattice axis. The DOS is enhanced relative to free space for any frequency and it exhibits discontinuities in the slope at the band edges. These results are relevant to the spontaneous emission by an atom or to dipole radiation in one-dimensional periodic structures. The differences between TE and TM modes are discussed. We take the opportunity to correct an error in the DOS calculation for TE polarization in the article referred above.

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