Extended plane-wave-based transfer-matrix approach to simulating dispersive photonic crystals

It has been difficult to compute the band structures and transmission spectra for photonic crystals (PCs) with dispersive components included in the periodic units. Here we show that by using an extended plane-wave-based transfer-matrix method, we are able to formulate the problem for computing optical properties of dispersive PCs, including magnetic and left-handed PCs. This approach is very general, since it can treat PCs with arbitrary Bravais lattice composed of materials with arbitrary dielectric permittivities and magnetic permeabilities. Combined with the supercell method, this method can further simulate defective PCs such as PC-based waveguides and microcavities.