Band structures for nonlinear photonic crystals

We present a method for calculating band structures for one-dimensional Kerr nonlinear photonic crystals, which exhibit an optical switching function. The band structure shows the allowed modes for the nonlinear photonic crystal as a function of the magnitude of the nonlinearity. The dielectric band is found to be most suited for the control beam as it is least effected by the nonlinearity. The third band is more sensitive to the nonlinearity and thus suited for the probe beam. Also the wavelength dependence of the switching function can be estimated using our method. The applied Fourier method is found to be robust in describing the effect of the nonlinearity. (C) 2002 American Institute of Physics.