Icosahedral quasicrystals by optical interference holography

Abstract

Optical interference holography has been proved to be a useful technique in fabricating periodic photonic crystals in which electromagnetic waves are forbidden in certain frequency bandgaps. Compared to periodic crystals quasicrystals, having higher point group symmetry, are more favourable in achieving complete bandgaps. In this report, we propose two seven-beam optical interference configurations based on the reciprocal vector space representations for quasicrystals to fabricate icosahedral quasicrystals. Interference simulations for the quasicrystals exhibit the full symmetry of an icosahedron. The result paves the path for the fabrication of photonic quasicrystals using holographic lithography.