Advances in photonic crystals

Photonic crystals have seen major advances in the past few years in the optical range. Three-dimensional (3D) structures are now made by several self-organized growth methods. While full 3D photonic bandgaps are clearly observed, physical effects such as spontaneous emission control or lifetime changes are weak, due to the regular nature of self-organized structures. On the other hand, the association of in-plane waveguiding and two-dimensional photonic crystals (PCs) in thin-slab or waveguide structures leads to good 3D confinement with easy fabrication. They open many exciting opportunities in optoelectronic devices and integrated optics. We present experiments on a variety of structures and devices, as well as modelling tools, which show that 2D PCs etched through waveguides supported by substrates are a viable route to high-performance PC-based photonic integrated circuits (PICs).