Controllable and tunable plasma photonic crystals through a combination of photonic crystal and dielectric barrier discharge patterns

We report five types of patterns with square symmetry, including three novel types obtained by inserting a specially designed grid photonic crystal (PC) into a dielectric barrier discharge system. They are studied using an intensified charge-coupled device camera and photomultiplier tubes. The three novel types of patterns are a square pattern with one structure, a square superlattice pattern with four sublattices and a (1/4)K_grid (K_grid is the basic wave vector of the grid), and another square pattern with a complex inversion discharge sequence. From the application viewpoint, the five types of patterns can be used as plasma photonic crystals (PPCs). Their band diagrams under a transverse-magnetic wave simulated by the finite element method show that there are a large number of band gaps. Compared with the original PC with only a unidirectional band gap, the five types of PPCs have tunable and omnidirectional band gaps, which is very important in controlling the propagation of electromagnetic waves in the mm-wave region. The experimental results enrich the pattern types in the dielectric barrier discharge system and provide a method for obtaining PPCs with symmetry controllability and bandgap tunability.