Face centered cubic photonic bandgap materials based on opal-semiconductor composites

We discuss photonic crystal properties of semiconductor-opal composites and explore the possibility of using these structures as photonic bandgap (PEG) materials in the visible and near-infrared region of the spectrum. Integrated reflectance in the optical region is used to show that the photonic crystal behavior of InP opal is enhanced with respect to the bare matrix as a result of the new refractive index contrast. Order-N band structure and transfer matrix calculations have proved to be in good agreement with the experiments. In addition, a strong coupling effect has been observed between CdS photoluminescence and the photonic structure, which leads to a partial inhibition of the spontaneous emission.