Bends and splitters for self-collimated beams in photonic crystals

We present finite-difference time-domain studies for self-collimated beams in photonic crystal structures. Using a pulse propagation technique that eliminates the interference from the boundary of finite photonic crystal structures, we show that the self-collimation phenomena can occur within a relatively wide bandwidth. We also demonstrate near-perfect operation efficiencies over wide frequency ranges in bends and splitters constructed by simply truncating the photonic crystal. (C) 2003 American Institute of Physics.