Holographic photonic crystals

Following the realization of photonic crystals in the late 1980s and fueled by the vision of photonic "highways" and all-optical switching, the field has grown into one of the most exciting and fertile areas of cross-disciplinary research spanning the scientific and engineering communities. We focus on the state of the art in holographic fabrication of photonic crystals by providing a unified framework of design principles for the creation of two- and three-dimensional optical lattices, with an emphasis on how all five two-dimensional and all fourteen three-dimensional Bravais lattices may be formed with three and four coherent laser beams, respectively. Additionally, we discuss quasiperiodic crystal interference profiles and aspects of the relevant holographic materials. After firmly establishing the general relationship between the holographic parameters and the resulting optical interference profiles, we offer a comprehensive literature review and set forth the most pressing research issues in holographic photonic crystals. (C) 2004 Society of PhotoOptical Instrumentation Engineers.