title: Mode softening, ferroelectric transition, and tunable photonic band structures in a point-dipole crystal.
abstract: We study the photonic band structure of cubic crystals of point dipoles. It is shown that in contrast to earlier claims these systems cannot have an omnidirectional photonic band gap. For sufficiently large plasma frequencies, however, they exhibit softening of photonic bands, leading to (anti)ferroelectric ordering of the dipoles and the possibility to open and tune directional band gaps by external electric fields. The model studied may be realized through lattices of quantum dots.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Theoretical Physics and Materials Science Center, University of Groningen, Nijenborgh 4, 9747 AG Groningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Klugkist
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mostovoy
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Knoester