Double Dirac cones in two-dimensional dielectric photonic crystals

By exploiting the accidental degeneracy of the doubly-degenerate dipolar and quadrupolar modes, we show that a two-dimensional dielectric photonic crystal (PC) can exhibit the double Dirac cone dispersion relation at the Γ point. Using a perturbation method and group theory, we demonstrate that the double cone is composed of two identical and overlapping Dirac cones with predictable linear slopes, and the linearity of the dispersion is guaranteed by the spatial symmetry of the Bloch eigenstates. Numerical simulations including wave-front shaping, unidirectional transmission and perfect tunneling show that the corresponding PC structure can be characterized by a zero effective refractive index.