Photonic crystals promise to shrink the optical devices used in
telecommunications by confining light more compactly than current
designs do. But getting light in and out of them has been a
challenge: once light leaves a photonic crystal it sprays out in
all directions, and much of it is lost. Two independent reports, in
the 15 March Physical Review B and the 19 March PRL, describe using
the surface of the photonic crystal as a kind of antenna to beam
the emitted light in a single direction, like a flashlight.
Improvements on this technique may help photonic crystal devices to
efficiently swap light signals with conventional fiber optic
devices.
(E. Moreno et al., Phys. Rev. B 69, 121402; P. Kramper, et al.,
Phys. Rev. L 92, 113903)
Links to the papers: http://link.aps.org/abstract/PRB/v69/e121402
and http://link.aps.org/abstract/PRL/v92/e113903
COMPLETE Focus story at http://focus.aps.org/story/v13/st11