Local polariton states in impure ionic crystals

We consider the dynamics of an ionic crystal with a single impurity in the vicinity of the polariton resonance. We show that if the polariton spectrum of the host crystal allows for a gap between polariton branches, the defect gives rise to a novel kind of local states with frequencies within the gap. Despite the atomic size of the impurity we find that new local states are predominated by long-wavelength polaritons. The properties of these states are shown to be different from the properties of the well-known vibrational local states. The difference is due to the singular behavior of the density of states of polaritons near the low-frequency boundary of the polariton gap. Assuming cubic simmetry of the defect site we consider a complete set of the local states arising near the bottom of the polariton gap.Comment: 10 pages, 3 Postscript figures, to be published in Phys. Rev. B 1998, Vol. 57, No.

Local polariton modes and resonant tunneling of electromagnetic waves through periodic Bragg multiple quantum well structures

We study analytically defect polariton states in Bragg multiple-quantum-well structures and defect induced changes in transmission and reflection spectra. Defect layers can differ from the host layers in three ways: exciton-light coupling strength, exciton resonance frequency, and inter-well spacing. We show that a single defect leads to two local polariton modes in the photonic bandgap. These modes cause peculiarities in reflection and transmission spectra. Each type of defect can be reproduced experimentally, and we show that each of these plays a distinct role in the optical properties of the system. For some defects, we predict a narrow transmission window in the forbidden gap at the frequency set by parameters of the defect. We obtain analytical expressions for corresponding local frequencies as well as for reflection and transmission coefficients. We show that the presence of the defects leads to resonant tunneling of the electromagnetic waves via local polariton modes accompanied by resonant enhancement of the field inside the sample, even when a realistic absorption is taken into account. On the basis of the results obtained, we make recommendations regarding the experimental observation of the effects studied in readily available samples.Comment: 17 pages, 10 figures, RevTex, Submitted to PR

Concept of local polaritons and optical properties of mixed polar crystals

The concept of local polaritons is used to describe optical properties of mixed crystals in the frequency region of their {\it restrahlen} band. It is shown that this concept allows for a physically transparent explanation of the presence of weak features in the spectra of so called one-mode crystals, and for one-two mode behavior. The previous models were able to explain these features only with the use of many fitting parameters. We show that under certain conditions new impurity-induced polariton modes may arise within the {\it restrahlen} of the host crystals, and study their dispersion laws and density of states. Particularly, we find that the group velocity of these excitations is proportional to the concentration of the impurities and can be thousands of times smaller then the speed of light in vacuum.Comment: 21 pages, 5 figures, RevTex, Phys. Rev. B, 62, 6301 (2000

Spectral engineering with multiple quantum well structures

It is shown that it is possible to significantly modify optical spectra of Bragg multiple quantum well structures by introducing wells with different exciton energies. The reflection spectrum of the resulting structures is characterized by high contrast and tuning possibilities