Photonic bandgap resonators and waveguides

Photonic Bandgap (PBG) structures are periodic dielectric structures which exhibit a frequency band in which electromagnetic waves can not propagate. This allows the use of PBGs as low loss replacements for metals in applications where metal is used as a means to confine electromagnetic radiation.; The field of PBGs has grown rapidly over the past seven years. The field is still growing at an exponential rate with most of the attention being paid to pushing PBG fabrication to produce PBG structures with bandgaps in the infrared and visible spectra. The two primary applications of Photonic Bandgaps are cavity resonators and waveguides for optical applications. Although the commercial interest in PBG resonators and waveguides at microwave frequencies has not grown at the same rate at the rest of the PBG field, the fabrication of structures for R&D at these frequencies is no less important. It is less expensive to fabricate structures at microwave frequencies than at optical frequencies and allows for a proof of concept of resonator and waveguide design, which can be used as a guide in designing at optical frequencies. This thesis covers both one dimensional PBG resonators and PBG waveguides.