Predicted photonic band gaps in diamond-lattice crystals built from silicon truncated tetrahedrons

Recently, a silicon micromachining method to produce tetrahedral silicon particles was discovered. In this report we determine, using band structure calculations, the optical properties of diamond-lattice photonic crystals when assembled from such particles. We show that crystal structures built from silicon tetrahedra are expected to display small stop gaps. Wide photonic band gaps appear when truncated tetrahedral particles are used to build the photonic crystals. With truncated tetrahedral particles, a bandgap with a width of 23.6% can be achieved, which is more than twice as wide compared to band gaps in self-assembled diamond-lattices of hard-spheres. The width of the bandgap is insensitive to small deviations from the optimal amount of truncation. This work paves the way to a novel class of silicon diamond-lattice bandgap crystals that can be obtained through self-assembly. Such a self-assembly approach would allow for easy integration of these highly photonic crystals in existing silicon microfluidic and -electronic systems. (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3624604]