Dispersion-enabled control of photonic density of states in photonic hypercrystals

Abstract

In this work, we investigate possibility of engineering photonic density of states (PDOS) in photonic hypercrystals (PHCs). In the course of our analysis, we have demonstrated that it is possible to obtain photonic bandgap for selected polarization of light as well as to achieve significant broadband PDOS enhancement. We have also presented for the first time that anomalous dispersion, that arises from effective resonance of hyperbolic medium constituting the PHC structure, may lead to negative PDOS, which is photonic equivalent of mobility gap, observed in electronic crystals. Furthermore, we have demonstrated that application of PHC structure, instead of standalone hyperbolic medium, allows to obtain more versatile electromagnetic response, such as broadband perfect absorption of adjustable spectral range of operation.