Efficient beaming of self-collimated light from photonic crystals

We propose a novel structure for achieving highly efficient beaming of self-collimated light from two-dimensional photonic crystals. The finite-difference time-domain simulations show that both enhanced transmission and highly directional emission of self-collimated beams from photonic crystals are achieved by using the bending and splitting of self-collimated beams in photonic crystals, and also by introducing an antireflection coating-like photonic crystal collimator to the exit surface of the structure. This structure is potentially important for highly efficient coupling of self-collimated beams from photonic crystals into conventional optical fibers and photonic crystal waveguides. (C) 2008 Optical Society of America