Nanostructured-porous-silicon-based two-dimensional photonic crystals

Tunable two-dimensional photonic band gap structures were developed, basically consisting of nanometric porous silicon (PS) rods embedded into a silicon matrix, arranged as to form a hexagonal lattice. The optical behavior of these structures was determined by calculating the band structure for the transverse magnetic and transverse electric modes, finding that the optical response can be controlled by independently varying the index of refraction of PS, the radius of the rods, and the lattice parameter. The change in the index of refraction was implemented in the range of 1.4–2.2 by controlling the PS formation parameters. Finally, it can be pointed out that the dependence of the optical behavior of the photonic crystals on polarization can lead to the development of polarization-dependent optoelectronic devices.