Stimulated by the pioneering work of Sajeev John and Eli Yablonovitsch, German research groups started with theoretical and experimental work on 2D and 3D photonics crystals in the early 1990s. This initial work was the basis for a research project focussing on photonic crystals and funded by the German Science Foundation (DFG) in 1999. During the last seven years, a consortium consisting of more than 20 German research groups concentrated on photonics crystals research. Nanophotonic Materials - Photonic Crystals, Plasmonics, and Metameterials summarizes the work and research results of these groups.

Research started with linear, non-dispersive properties of purely dielectric 2D and 3D photonic crystals and progressed to non-linear and dispersive properties of dielectric photonic crystals including gain and / or losses. These properties where studied on different materials systems such as silicon, III-V-compound semiconductors, oxides and polymers, as well as hybrid systems consisting of dielectric photonic crystals and liquid crystals. Applications of these systems were developed in the area of active photonic crystal fibres, functional optical components, and sensors. Some of these have by now even entered into industrial applications.