Band structure and reflectance for a nonlinear one-dimensional photonic crystal

We consider a model for a one-dimensional photonic crystal formed by a succession of nonlinear Kerr-type equidistant spaceless interfaces immersed in a linear medium. We calculate analytically the band structure of this system as a function of the incident wave intensity, and find two main tendencies: the appearance of prohibited bands, and the separation and narrowing of these bands. We consider as well a finite version of this photonic crystal for a limited number of alternating linear and non linear set of stacks for which we calculate reflectance as a function of the electromagnetic wave intensity, band index and number of periods. A system with these features can be constructed by alternating very thin slabs of a nonlinear soft matter material with thicker solid films, which can be used to design a device to control light propagation for specific wavelength intervals and light intensities of the same propagating signal. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.