SPECIAL TOPICS

Photonic Crystals

Published: October 2008
 

The baseline time span for this database is (publication years) 1998-June 30, 2008 from the third bimonthly update (a 10-year + 6-month period). The resulting database contained 5,639 (10 years) and 2,244 (2 years) papers; 7,725 authors; 70 nations; 331 journals; and 1,599 institutions.

OVERVIEW

Photonic crystals, also known as photonic band-gap materials, are periodic dielectic materials whose periodicity controls the movement of photons through the crystal, basically doing for photons what semiconductor materials have done for electrons. This month, ScienceWatch.com looks at the research in this field over the past decade, based on the title word search "photonic cryst*."

The main focus over the past decade, based on the top 20 papers from this period, appears to be on preparation methods for the variety of photonic crystalline materials, such as 3D, 2D, fibers, and slabs. These methods include holographic lithography, photopolymerization, and electrochemical methods. Other phenomena addressed in the top 20 list include light propagation, guiding and bending electromagnetic waves, line defect waveguides, and dispersion characteristics.

The two-year list appears to narrow its focus, dealing with such topics as introducing defects, supercontinuum generation, preparation in nanocavities, and control of photoluminescence. Applications also make an appearance on this list, including photonic crystal fiber lasers, circuits, and thermal antennae.

Methodology: To construct this database, papers were extracted for the special topic of Photonic Crystals based this search criteria:

Title=("photonic cryst*")
Timespan=1998-2008. Databases=SCI-EXPANDED, SSCI.
Refined by: Document Type=(ARTICLE OR REVIEW)

The baseline time span for this database is (publication years) 1998-June 30, 2008 from the third bimonthly update (a 10-year + 6-month period). The resulting database contained 5,639 (10 years) and 2,244 (2 years) papers; 7,725 authors; 70 nations; 331 journals; and 1,599 institutions.

Rankings: Once the database was in place, it was used to generate the lists of top 20 papers (two- and ten-year periods), authors, journals, institutions, and nations, covering a time span of 1998-April 30, 2008 (second bimonthly period 2008).

The top 20 papers are ranked according to total cites. Rankings for author, journal, institution, and country are listed in three ways: according to total cites, total papers, and total cites/paper. The paper thresholds and corresponding percentages used to determine scientist, institution, country, and journal rankings according to total cites/paper, and total papers respectively are as follows: