The design of square photonic lattices with the highest quality factors (Q) to date has been reported by researchers at California Institute of Technology in Pasadena in the July 29 issue of Optics Express. Initially seeking a better understanding of radiation loss in photonic crystals, they have developed general guidelines for optimizing light storage in planar photonic crystal waveguides.

The researchers employed Fourier analysis to characterize the specific defects in photonic crystals that minimize the light radiating from them. Although the measured Q of previous designs has been several thousands at best, these results predict that values of 10⁵ are possible.