Photonic Crystals: The Road from Theory to Practice [Hardcover]

Steven G. Johnson (Author), John D. Joannopoulos (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0792376099 | ISBN-13: 978-0792376095 | Publication Date: January 15, 2002 | Edition: 1st

Photonic Crystals: The Road from Theory to Practice explores the theoretical road leading to the practical application of photonic band gaps. These new optimal devices are based on symmetry and resonance and the benefits and limitations of hybrid "two dimensional" slab systems in three dimensions. The book also explains that they also signify a return to the ideal of an omnidirectional band gap in a structure inspired by and emulating the simplicity of two dimensions. Finally, the book takes a look at computational methods to solve the mathematical problems that underlie all undertakings in this field.
Photonic Crystals: The Road from Theory to Practice should rapidly bring the optical professional and engineer up to speed on this intersection of electromagnetism and solid-state physics. It will also provide an excellent addition to any graduate course in optics.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 160 pages
• Publisher: Springer; 1st edition (January 15, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0792376099
• ISBN-13: 978-0792376095
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,462,590 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Extremely Poor Value, October 22, 2003

By 

"basquero" (Madison, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Photonic Crystals: The Road from Theory to Practice (Hardcover)

Taken by itself, it isn't a bad book BUT most (80%) of the content is just *reprinted journal articles* which, if you work/study anywhere with decent journal access, you can get for FREE. Just look up Joannopoulos' major papers. The other 20% of the book is covered in more detail in his other book, Photonic Crystals:Molding the Flow of Light.

And this is not even mentioning the absolutely outrageous price that the publisher wants for this miniscule tract. It looks like it was just photocopied (poorly - you can even see where the toner didn't distribute properly) and bound. Some of the graphs and illustrations were meant to be shown in color in the journals and are, of course, illegible in black and white.

I recommend buying the other book.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars useless, buy Joannopoulos' other book, November 5, 2005

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Photonic Crystals: The Road from Theory to Practice (Hardcover)

This book is very costly and not worth either the money or the time you spend reading it. It's a collection of journal articles that you can get free if your institution subscribes to common physics and optics journals. They have added a badly written introduction and conclusion, and there is absolutely no coherent presentation as it jumps from topic to topic in different papers.

(Note: I have used the Kids review option because I didnt want to take the trouble of finding my password, signing in ... I am a researcher in the area of nonlinear photonics.)

6 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars At last, Photonic Crystals book for beginner in the field., February 4, 2003

By 

Rawitat Pulam - See all my reviews

This review is from: Photonic Crystals: The Road from Theory to Practice (Hardcover)

Recently I had been working on simulation of light propagation in photonic crystals, and found that many materials (text, papers, etc) are difficult for beginners, especially non-physics majors like myself (I'm a computer science people).

[Note that this book itself does not state that it is for beginners, but the tone of the text itself said it all.]

This book fills in the gap nicely. It has a good introduction topics and good explanation, i.e., english rather than mathematical formula, for otherwise rather difficult things. A lot of things, including computational model, are introduced in the text (even I think the computational model section is a little bit shallow). Note that this book might missed out some recent advancement like nonlinear waveguide. However, taking into account that this book is rather for beginners of this rapidly-changing field, it is fine with me.

Cons::
This book has some cons, however. First, it is a little bit pricy. Considering that it is only 154 pages long and pricing at 125$, it is almost $1/page. And at this price, you would expect it to be in full colors with good quality paper (like Joannopoulos' previous "Photonic Crystals: Molding the Flow of Light" book). However, a copy I recieved has rather bad quality paper and only in monochrome. And for this reason, I had lowered the rate of this otherwise a 5-stars book.