The great interest in photonic crystals and their applications in the
last 15 years is being expressed in the publishing of a large number of
monographs, collections, textbooks and tutorials, where existing
knowledge concerning - eration principles of photonic crystal devices
and microstructured ?bers, their mathematicaldescription,
well-knownandnovelapplicationsofsuchtechno- gies in photonics and
optical communications are presented. They challenges authors of new
books to cover the gaps still existing in the literature and highlight
and popularize of already known material in a new and original manner.
Authorsofthisbookbelievethatthenextsteptowardswideapplicationof
photoniccrystalsisthesolutionofmanypracticalproblemsofdesignandc-
putation of the speci?c photonic crystal-based devices aimed at the
speci?c technicalapplication.Inordertomakethisstep,
itisnecessarytoincreasethe number of practitioners who can solve such
problems independently. The aim of this book is to extend the group of
researchers, developers and students, who could practically use the
knowledge on the physics of photonic crystals together with the
knowledge and skills of independent calculation of basic characteristics
of photonic crystals and modeling of various elements of - tegrated
circuits and optical communication systems created on the basis of
photonic crystals. The book is intended for quali?ed readers,
specialists in the ?eld of optics and photonics, students of higher
courses, master degree students and PhD students. As an introduction to
the snopest, the book contains the basics of wave optics and radiation
propagation in simple guiding media such as planar waveguides and
step-index ?bers.