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Experimental demonstration of guiding and bending of electromagnetic waves in a photonic crystal
1S.-Y. Lin, E. Chow, V. Hietala, Sandia National Laboratories, Post Office Box 5800, Albuquerque, NM 87185, USA. P. R. Velleneuve and J. D. Johannopoulos, Department of Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
Abstract:
The routing and interconnection of optical signals through narrow channels and around sharp corners are important for large-scale all-optical circuit applications. A recent computational result suggests that photonic crystals may offer a novel way of achieving this goal by providing a mechanism for guiding light that is fundamentally different from traditional index guiding. Waveguiding in a photonic crystal and near 100 percent transmission of electromagnetic waves around sharp 90 degree corners were observed experimentally. Bending radii were made smaller than one wavelength.