The paper introduces a novel face-centered-cubic (fcc) dielectric structure that addresses two significant challenges in photonic band structure: lifting the degeneracy at the \(W\) point of the Brillouin zone and enabling a full photonic band gap. The structure features nonspherical atoms, which break the degeneracy and allow for a true photonic band gap. This three-dimensional fcc structure is easily fabricated using techniques such as chemical-beam-assisted ion etching, involving drilling three sets of holes at an angle of 35.26° off vertical into the top surface of a solid slab or wafer. The authors demonstrate that this structure can achieve a 3D forbidden photonic band gap of about 20% of its center frequency at a refractive index of \(n \sim 3.6\), and the gap remains open for refractive indices as low as \(n = 2.1\). The paper also discusses the experimental setup and results, including dispersion relations and the effectiveness of the photonic crystal in expelling zero-point electromagnetic fields. The findings suggest that this structure could have practical applications in semiconductor and solid-state electronics, as well as in atomic and optical physics.The paper introduces a novel face-centered-cubic (fcc) dielectric structure that addresses two significant challenges in photonic band structure: lifting the degeneracy at the \(W\) point of the Brillouin zone and enabling a full photonic band gap. The structure features nonspherical atoms, which break the degeneracy and allow for a true photonic band gap. This three-dimensional fcc structure is easily fabricated using techniques such as chemical-beam-assisted ion etching, involving drilling three sets of holes at an angle of 35.26° off vertical into the top surface of a solid slab or wafer. The authors demonstrate that this structure can achieve a 3D forbidden photonic band gap of about 20% of its center frequency at a refractive index of \(n \sim 3.6\), and the gap remains open for refractive indices as low as \(n = 2.1\). The paper also discusses the experimental setup and results, including dispersion relations and the effectiveness of the photonic crystal in expelling zero-point electromagnetic fields. The findings suggest that this structure could have practical applications in semiconductor and solid-state electronics, as well as in atomic and optical physics.