Delay of a microwave pulse in a photonic crystal

Propagation of a nanosecond microwave pulse through a photonic crystal placed into an X-band waveguide is investigated. The nanosecond pulse is produced via shortening of the microsecond microwave pulse by the plasma electromagnetic band gap structure, which is formed in the waveguide by microwave breakdown ignited discharges inside three neon-filled glass tubes. Measured delay time for nanosecond microwave pulse propagation through the photonic crystal is about 23 ns that is in good agreement with the value obtained by numerical simulation. This time delay value corresponds to the group velocity of microwave pulses in the photonic crystal $v_{gr} \approx 0.11c$, where $c$ is the speed of light in vacuum.