A tunable microwave plasma photonic crystal filter

The integration of gaseous plasma elements into a microwave photonic crystal band gap cavity structure allows for active tuning of the device. An alumina rod array microwave photonic crystal waveguide resonator is simulated and characterized through finite difference time domain methods. A gaseous plasma element is integrated into the cavity structure and the effect of plasma density on the transmission properties of the structure is investigated. We show, through both simulations and experiments, that the permittivity of the plasma can be adjusted to shift the peak resonance to allow for both switching and tunability of transmission. The experimentally measured peak shifts in transmission are compared to those simulated and the electron density of the gaseous plasma element is calculated and compared to values determined from the measured discharge current density. (C) 2015 AIP Publishing LLC.