Structural Tunable Plasma Photonic Crystals in Dielectric Barrier Discharge

We demonstrate a kind of structural tunable plasma photonic crystal in a dielectric barrier discharge by self-organization of the plasma filaments. The symmetry, the lattice constant and the orientations of different plasma photonic crystals can be deliberately controlled by changing the applied voltage. The plasma structures can be tuned from a square lattice to a triangular lattice, the lattice constant is reduced and the crystal orientation varies π6 when the applied voltage is increased. The band diagrams of the plasma photonic crystals under a transverse-magnetic wave have been studied, which shows that the positions and sizes of the band gaps change significantly for different plasma structures. We suggest a flexible way for the fabrication of tunable plasma photonic crystals, which may find wide application in the manipulation of microwaves or terahertz waves.