Negative refraction in one-dimensional photonic crystals

Photonic crystals are artificial structures that have periodic dielectric components with different refractive indices. Under certain conditions, they abnormally refract the light, a phenomenon called negative refraction. Here, we discuss recent theoretical and simulation results that showed that negative refraction could be present near the low frequency edge of at least the second, fourth and sixth bandgaps of a lossless one-dimensional photonic crystals (1D-PC) structure. That is, negative refraction is a multiband phenomenon. We also discuss the negative refraction correctness condition that gives the angular region where negative refraction occurs. We compare two current negative refraction theoretical models with recent experimental results. In order to succeed, an output refraction correction is utilized. The correction uses Snell's law and an effective refractive index based on two effective dielectric constants. We found good agreement between experiment and both theoretical models in the negative refraction zone.