Light propagation characteristics in quantum well structures of photonic crystals

Two-dimensional (2D) closed-cavity single quantum well (SQW) and multiple quantum well (MQW) structures are proposed based on the traditional 2D open-cavity SQW structures of photonic crystals. The numerical calculation results show that the proposed structures can greatly improve the optical characteristics compared with the traditional structures. It is found that the barrier thickness has a great impact on the optical characteristics of the closed-cavity MQW structures: when the barrier thickness is narrower, each resonant peak which appears in the SQW would split, the number of split times is just equal to the number of wells, and each well in the MQW structures is a travelling-wave-well, similar to the well in the open-cavity SQW structures; when the barrier thickness is wider, there is no effect of spectral splitting, and each well in the MQW structures is a standing-wave-well, just like the well in the closed-cavity SQW. The physical origin of different field distributions and the effect of the spectral splitting are provided.