Photonic stopbands and light transmission characteristics in GaAs-based three dimensional waveguides with large index contrast

A relatively simple technique to realize a III-V semiconductor based quasi-three-dimensional photonic crystal material with a refractive index contrast similar to 2 is described. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy measurement reveals a stop band between 15 and 20 mu m for a sample with scattering center spacing of 6.3 mu m. Another narrow transmittance dip is observable in the wavelength range of 1.1-1.58 mu m, with an attenuation of 12 dB at 1.18 mu m. The relation between transmission T and waveguide length L, as measured by 1.15 mu m wavelength light is either T-L-2 or T-exp(-L/L-0), indicating photon localization in the weakly disordered system. (C) 1999 American Institute of Physics. [S0003-6951(99)03238-6].