Polarization-selective photonic band gap induced by electromagnetically induced transparency

Abstract

A tripod-type system driven by a weak linearly polarized probe light and a π-polarized standing-wave control light is studied. The results show that double photonic band gaps (PBGs) can be obtained at two different frequencies due to Zeeman splitting induced by an external magnetic field. This allows us to selectively manipulate the σ± components of the probe light, which exhibits polarization selective features. These peculiar features can be employed to devise schemes for a polarization beam splitter and polarization selective routing. Furthermore, the dependence of the gap position on the magnetic field provides an additional control of the PBGs structure. Thus, double tunable PBGs can be achieved.