Two-dimensional local density of states in two-dimensional photonic crystals

We calculate the two-dimensional local density of states (LDOS) for two-dimensional photonic crystals composed of a finite cluster of circular cylinders of infinite length. The LDOS determines the dynamics of radiation sources embedded in a photonic crystal. We show that the LDOS decreases exponentially inside the crystal for frequencies within a photonic band gap of the associated infinite array and demonstrate that there exist "hot" and "cold" spots inside the cluster even for wavelengths inside a gap, and also for wavelengths corresponding to pass bands. For long wavelengths the LDOS exhibits oscillatory behavior in which the local density of states can be more than 30 times higher than the vacuum level. (C) 2001 Optical Society of America.