Numerical Simulation on Microwave Transmission Properties of 1-D Periodic Super-Lattice Plasma Photonic Crystals with a Finite-Difference Time-Domain Method

We here report the investigation into the microwave (MW) transmission properties of 1-D periodic super-lattice plasma photonic crystals (PPCs) through numerical simulation with a 2-D finite-difference time-domain method. The super-lattice PPCs are constituted by plasma columns each surrounded by a glass layer, two kinds of which are defined. One is constituted by columns of different shapes and the other by columns of the same shape, whereas other parameter(s) configured unequal. The transmittance bandgap (BG) characters (number, position, depth, and width) of super-lattice PPCs with columns different in shape, plasma frequency (f_p), electron-collision frequency (nu_m), and diameter (_d), respectively, are compared with those of the corresponding simple lattices with similar parametric configurations. An averaging effect is found in the cases of shape, f_p, and nu_m, while decreasing d can serve as an equivalent effect of increasing lattice constant (L). The BG character of super-lattice PPCs with simulation parameters changing in different ways is also studied, presenting both similarity and difference comparing to simple-lattice PPCs, and the relationship between the BG position and the L is established.