Patent ID: 7332697

Claim:
A waveguide comprising a photonic bandgap crystal for use in directing or splitting incident photonic radiation, the waveguide comprising: a) a block of a first material having a first dielectric constant, the block having a length, a width and a thickness; b) a guide path for directing or splitting photonic radiation through the crystal, the guide path having a starting point on the width and at least one ending point on the length or width; c) a plurality of cylindrical holes, each having a longitudinal axis parallel to the thickness and a radius perpendicular thereto, the holes provided along the length and width of the block outside the guide path and arranged in a triangular lattice having a lattice constant, the holes containing a second material having a second dielectric constant less than the first dielectric constant; d) wherein the first dielectric constant is from 7.4 to 25, the second dielectric constant is from 0.9 to 1.1 and the ratio of the radius to the lattice constant is from 0.45 to 0.495.