Waveguiding at 1500 nm using photonic crystal structures in silicon on insulator wafers

Summary form only given.Planar photonic crystal waveguides and devices may offer the possibility to build photonic circuits with greater density and new functionality compared to existing waveguide devices that are based on the control of light by refraction. The primary vehicles for this research are the study of microcavity lasers as a path to understanding new functionality, and the propagation of light round sharp bends as the path to increasing the packing density of planar optical circuits. In this paper we report our results on the demonstration of coupling and guiding of light in a planar photonic circuit incorporating sharp bends. Experimental measurements show that 1500 nm light can be guided in these structures, with properties that are consistent with photonic crystal confinement.