Optical properties of one-dimensional photonic crystals containing graphene sheets

The transmission properties of a one-dimensional photonic crystal containing graphene monolayers are investigated using transfer matrix method. It is shown that the structure has a new type of the photonic band gap in the THz region which is almost omnidirectional and insensitive to the polarization. The results show that the characteristic properties of this band gap depend on the optical parameters of the graphene sheets and can be controlled via a gate voltage. The difference between this gap and the structural Bragg gaps is investigated by plotting the electromagnetic field profiles inside the one-dimensional photonic crystal for some critical frequencies.