Two-dimensional photonic crystal waveguides with 60° bends in a thin slab structure

We experimentally investigated the light propagation characteristics of two-dimensional photonic crystal waveguides, for the first time. The difficulty of fabricating photonic crystals with airholes was reduced by employing a thin slab structure with a GaInAsP high refractive index core, and by employing air and SiO2 low index claddings. The light propagation through channels composed of a series of defects in the photonic crystal was observed in the wavelength range 1.51-1.55 mu m. Smooth propagation was maintained even beyond 60 degrees channel bends. The wavelength and polarization dependence of propagation characteristics as well as the peculiar scattering of light to space were explained by the photonic band theory.