title: Robust photonic band gap from tunable scatterers
abstract: We show theoretically and experimentally that photonic band gaps can be realized using metal or metal-coated spheres as building blocks. Robust photonic gaps exist in any periodic structure built from such spheres when the filling ratio of the spheres exceeds a threshold. The frequency and the size of the gaps depend on the local order rather than on the symmetry or the global long range order. Good agreement between theory and experiment is obtained in the microwave regime. Calculations show that the approach can be scaled up to optical frequencies even in the presence of absorption.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China.
authors.initials: WY
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.initials: XY
authors.lastname: Lei
authors.initials: ZL
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.initials: WY
authors.lastname: Tam
authors.initials: CT
authors.lastname: Chan
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sheng