Finite-size scaling of the density of states inside band gaps of ideal and disordered photonic crystals

Abstract

We study the density of states (DOS) in band gaps of ideal and disordered three-dimensional photonic crystals of finite size. The ideal crystal is a diamond lattice of resonant point scatterers (atoms) whereas the disordered one is obtained from it by displacing the scatterers by random distances in random directions. We find that DOS inside a band gap of the ideal crystal decreases as the inverse of the crystal size. Disorder narrows the band gap and DOS exhibits enhanced fluctuations near the new band edges. However, the average DOS still exhibits the same scaling with the crystal size within the remaining band gap. A phenomenological explanation of this scaling suggests that it should hold for one- and two-dimensional photonic crystals as well.