Arbitrary angle waveguide bends in two-dimensional photonic crystals

Arbitrary angle waveguide bends in two-dimensional photonic crystals are studied with modeling and calculation. The lattice orientation restriction to bending angles can be avoided by incorporating an annular air groove into the bending corner. Theoretical analysis shows that the sharp bends transmit guided lightwaves with a very slight difference of propagation properties between straight waveguides and bend sections. A transmission of larger than 90% with a bandwidth of wider than 52 nm is obtained in the vicinity of 1.55 μm for the sharp bends with bending angles from 0° to 165°.