We investigate the diffraction conditions and associated formation of stop gaps for waves in crystals with different Bravais lattices. We identify a prominent stop gap in high-symmetry directions that occurs at a frequency below the ubiquitous first-order Bragg condition. This sub-Bragg-diffraction condition is demonstrated by reflectance spectroscopy on two-dimensional photonic crystals with a centered rectangular lattice, revealing prominent diffraction peaks for both the sub-Bragg and first-order Bragg conditions. These results have implications for wave propagation in 2 of the 5 two-dimensional Bravais lattices and 7 out of 14 three-dimensional Bravais lattices, such as centered rectangular, triangular, hexagonal, and body-centered cubic.

APS
doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.108.083901
Phys. Rev. Lett.

Huisman, S. R., Nair, R. V., Hartsuiker, A., Woldering, L. A., Mosk, A., & Vos, W. L. (2012). Observation of sub-bragg diffraction of waves in crystals. Phys.Rev.Lett., 108(8, Article number: 83901), 1–5. doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.108.083901