Observation of light propagation in two-dimensional photonic crystal-based bent optical waveguides

An observation of light propagation in a two-dimensional photonic crystal-based (2D-PC) optical waveguide is reported. Bent waveguides with a bending angle of 60 degrees embedded in a 2D-PC triangular lattice with air columns were fabricated on a molecular-beam epitaxially grown AlGaAs/GaAs structure. The light-propagation characteristics were examined by observing scattered light from PC regions with incident light in the 850-950 nm range under an optical microscope using a charge coupled device camera. The incident light was strongly guided for wavelengths corresponding to the photonic band gap. (C) 2001 American Institute of Physics.