Intra-Brillouin-zone bandgaps due to periodic misalignment in one-dimensional magnetophotonic crystals

One-dimensional (1D) magnetophotonic crystals (MPCs) can incorporate optical gyrotropy induced by a bias magnetic field, crystalline misalignment, and differential linear birefringence in a single photonic-crystal structure. A 1D MPC whose unit cell contains two layers-one magnetophotonic, the other not-displays intra-Brillouin-zone photonic bandgaps (PBGs) in the Brillouin diagram. While the optical gyrotropy makes the PBG bandwidths tunable by a bias magnetic field, the bicrystalline misalignment modifies and can even trump this magnetic tunability. Magnetic tunability is greatly affected by a proper selection of the two materials; e.g., a large birefringence ratio between the two layers can dramatically enhance the magnetic tunability of the MPC. We also expect our 1D MPCs to be useful for detecting magnetic fields. (c) 2008 American Institute of Physics.