Icosahedral quasicrystals by optical interference holography.pdf

Icosahedral quasicrystals by optical interference holography Wing Yim Tam* Department of Physics and Institute of Nano Science and Technology Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China 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. Keywords: quasicrystals, photonic bandgap materials, holography PACS: 61.44.Br, 42.70.Qs, 42.40.–i * Corresponding Author: phtam@ust.hk; Phone: 852-2358-7490; Fax: 852-2358-1652. 1 Quasicrystalline structures (quasicrystals), discovered in alloys in the early eighties, have higher point group symmetry than ordinary periodic crystals. They exhibit long-range aperiodic order and rotational symmetries that fall outside the traditional crystallographic classification schemes.[1] It was suggested[2] that quasicrystals, with mesoscale features, can possess photonic bandgaps in which electromagnetic wave propagation is forbidden.[3] Furthermore, because of the higher rotational symmetry of the quasicrystals, the bandgaps are more isotropic and thus are more favourable in achieving complete bandgaps than conventional photonic crystals. Photonic crystals have been fabricated by techniques such as the self- assembly of colloidal microspheres or micro-fabrication, and recently, the holographic li