Experimental demonstration of photonic crystal based waveguides

We report the experimental demonstration of waveguides built around layer-by-layer photonic crystals. An air gap introduced between two photonic crystal walls was used as the waveguide. We observed full (100%) transmission of the electromagnetic (EM) waves through these planar waveguide structures within the frequency range of the photonic band gap. The dispersion relations obtained from the experiment were in good agreement with the predictions of our waveguide model. We also observed 35% transmission for the EM waves traveling through a sharp bend in an L-shaped waveguide carved inside the photonic crystal. (C) 1999 American Institute of Physics. [S0003-6951(99)01904-X].