Engineering the near-field imaging of a rectangular-lattice photonic-crystal slab in the second band

Imaging properties of a two-dimensional rectangular-lattice photonic crystal (PC) slab consisting of air holes immersed in a dielectric are studied in this work. The field patterns of electromagnetic waves radiated from a point source through the PC slab are calculated with the finite-difference time-domain method. Comparing the field patterns with the corresponding equifrequency-surface contours simulated by the plane-wave expansion method, we find that an excellent-quality near-field image may be formed through the PC slab by the mechanisms of the simultaneous action of the self-collimation effect and the negative-refraction effect. Near-field imaging may be obtained within two different frequency regions in two vertical directions of the PC slab. Supported by the Research Foundation of the State Ethnic Affairs Commission of China (Grant No. 07ZY15), the National Key Basic Research Special Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 2004CB719804 and 2006CB921702), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 10674185 and 10705056), and the Youth Foundation of Central University of Nationalities (Grant No. CUN0207)