9513137 Haus A three year cooperative research program is developed between the experimental group of Prof. Kuon Inoue at Hokkaido University in Sapporo, Japan and the theoretical group of the PI at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. The subject of our investigations is dielectric materials with periodicity in one-, two- and three-dimensions. The topic combines the strengths of two groups to explore the potential of these new materials for applications in optoelectronics, especially pulse propagation and nonlinear effects. The experimental group is engaged in a number of experiments on samples whose lattice spacing ranges from millimeters to sub-microns; two- and three-dimensional samples are of primary interest. The Japanese group has both microwave and optical characterization experiments underway to confirm specific theoretical predictions. The PI is continuing numerical calculations and developing several approaches from plane-waves to beam-propagation methods; attention is devoted to convergence and reliability issues. Analytical methods are concurrently being developed using the multiple scales perturbation approach. The results are applied to pulse propagation, dispersion and diffraction in linear and nonlinear structures. ***
