Influence of defect positions on the diffraction properties of photonic crystals

M. Levassor d'Yerville, D. Cassagne, C. Jouanin

Using numerical methods, we study transmission and reflection of periodic defect rows in photonic crystals. We demonstrate that in photonic crystals with finite thickness, the position of defects versus surface plays a crucial role in the diffraction properties. In the specific case of graphite structures, we study defects in asymmetric photonic crystals and we demonstrate large asymmetries of the transmission, which can be 5 times larger according to whether a plane wave impinges on the front or on the back of the photonic crystal.