Zener tunneling in two-dimensional photonic lattices
arXiv:cond-mat/0606251 · doi:10.1103/PhysRevE.74.056602
Abstract
We discuss the interband light tunneling in a two-dimensional periodic photonic structure, as was studied recently in experiments for optically-induced photonic lattices [H. Trompeter et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. \textbf{96}, 053903 (2006)]. We identify the Zener tunneling regime at the crossing of two Bloch bands, which occurs in a generic case of the Bragg reflection when the Bloch index crosses the edge of the irreducible Brillouin zone. Similarly, the higher-order Zener tunneling involves four Bloch bands when the Bloch index passes through a high-symmetry point on the edge of the Brillouin zone. We derive simple analytical models that describe the tunneling effect, and calculate the corresponding tunneling probabilities.
6 pages, 6 figures, submitted to Phys Rev E; changes: band structure added (fig1) and the error estimates for the Landau-Zener model (fig 6)