Tailoring and characterization of photonic crystals

Photonic crystals are promising systems for application in the fields of optoelectronics and optical communications. Understanding of their underlying physical principles and techniques for fabrication and characterization has progressed significantly during the last decade. This paper outlines the main achievements in these areas, and gives an overview of various photonic crystal systems, including those fabricated in semiconductors by traditional tools of microelectronics, and those fabricated from glasses, resins and other materials using novel non-traditional techniques.