Photonic Crystals: Molding the Flow of Light (Second Edition)

Features

• Cover Type: Hard Cover with 304 pages
• Published by: Princeton University Press
• Edition: 2nd Edition February 11, 2008
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 0691124566
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-0691124568
• Book Dimensions: 10.1 x 6.8 x 1.1 inches
• Weighs: 2.4 pounds

Product Review
Photonic Crystals is a timely and well-written account of this new field.
(Nature )

Product Review
This book is destined to become the classic textbook in the area. It gathers together the fundamental concepts and tools relevant to photonic crystals and presents them with exceptional clarity. I genuinely enjoyed reading it.
(Maryanne Large, University of Sydney )

Reader Reviews
This review is from: Photonic Crystals: Molding the Flow of Light (Hardcover) Keeping in mind, I started my research in photonic crystals with my advisor referring me to this book. So, I am speaking as a first-year graduate student with basic physics background. Hopefully, you come in this category of inexperience looking for some advice on approaching a difficult subject to understand. My only suggestion is to ask around your research group for other reading materials and also get to know your library well. In any case, you can also check out my profile which has a listing of optics and photonic crystal books that can help you out as well. So, I just wanted to let you know where I am coming from since other reviewers might be educators who already have a good understanding of photonic crystals. In some ways, it pretty much assumes alot of knowledge like my advisor who assumed me to be much the same which I was not. In this fairly thin book, Joannopoulos basically rehashes the concepts of photonic crystals from his review papers in journals. Although this book may be appropriate who have read his articles, it probably is not the best source for undergrad/grad students who want to really get the details. The book has some illustrations which may or may not get the point across to readers. For beginners, I would suggest going to "Scientific American" article which Joannopoulos writes to a general audience with little or no background in optics. This gives a wonderful explanation about total internal reflection and how it relates to fiber optics. Then, it ties into the idea of crystals trapping light. Afterwards, you can consult with an undergrad optics book (Hecht or Pedrotti) which will go into basic optics. The price of this book is also quite expensive for just a short overview. So, I would have to advise strongly against purchasing without at least borrowing/reading it ahead of time. Just ask your professor/advisor who will most likely have a copy on his bookshelf. Although this is widely used as a reference, it is decent and also the only one out there. But in my opinion, it's hard to write a book on emerging technology for budding scientists. Also, technology changes so this information will later be dated with new findings. Comment | | (Report this)