Numerical study of band gaps generated by randomly perturbed bidimensional metallic cubic photonic crystals

A rigorous scattering theory has been used to reveal the large forbidden band gap in frequency of a bidimensional (2D) metallic photonic crystal, consisting of a 2D periodic array of parallel perfectly conducting metallic rods. It is shown here numerically that strong perturbations in the positions of the rods do not generate a noticeable distortion in the overall response of the structure to an electromagnetic wave, i.e. that the large forbidden band gap of metallic photonic crystals is not related to the periodicity but to the metallicity of the rods. (C) 1998 Published by Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.