Reconfigurable plasma photonic crystals from triangular lattice to square lattice in dielectric barrier discharge

Abstract

We demonstrate a flexible experimental method to realize fast reconfiguration of plasma photonic crystals by self-organization of filaments in dielectric barrier discharge (DBD). The symmetry and lattice constant of plasma photonic crystals can both be dynamically tuned by simply changing the applied voltage. The reconfiguration from a triangular lattice to a square lattice is realized and the triangular lattices with different lattice constants are also obtained. A phenomenological reaction-diffusion model of two interacting layers is established to simulate the formation of different plasma structures. Experimental observations and numerical simulation are in good agreement. Moreover, the band diagrams of different plasma photonic crystals have been studied by use of finite element method. It is shown that the positions and sizes of the band gaps change significantly when the configurations of plasma photonic crystals have been changed. Such plasma structures can be used as potential tunable metamaterials, which may find wide applications in the manipulation of microwaves and terahertz waves.