Photonic microstructures for the next generation of microcavity lasers

We present the first experimental demonstration of a two-dimensional photonic bandgap (2D PBG) at optical wavelengths and the localisation of light at a defect in a lD PBG structure. These are major milestones for a novel class of waveguide based GaAs-AlGaAs microcavity semiconductor lasers with very low threshold, reduced noise and a substantial degree of spontaneous emission control.