Flexible optical waveguides based on the omnidirectional reflection of one-dimensional photonic crystals

Abstract

An optical wave guiding structure based on the omnidirectional reflection of one-dimensional photonic crystals is presented. The dispersion and transmission characteristics of flexible waveguides using this structure are investigated by numerical simulations using plane wave expansion method and finite-difference time-domain method, respectively. Calculated results indicate that for waveguide bends of arbitrary angles with a curved radius less than several wavelengths, a very high transmission (>97%) over wide frequency range is observed. Owing to this unique advantage of flexibility, it is expected to be applied to highly dense photonic integrated circuits after further research.