Tuning the microcavity resonant wavelength in a two-dimensional photonic crystal by modifying the cavity geometry

High-quality-factor microcavities in two-dimensional photonic crystals at optical frequencies have a number of technological applications, such as cavity quantum electrodynamics, optical switching, filtering, and wavelength multiplexing. For such applications, it is useful to have a simple approach to tune the microcavity resonant wavelength. In this letter, we propose a microcavity design by which we can tune the resonant wavelength by changing the cavity geometry while still obtaining a high quality factor. (C) 2003 American Institute of Physics.