It has always been a challenge for researchers to develop a material that can be used to bend optical signals around corners that could be used for developing integrated circuits, which can be used in more advanced telecommunication circuits and to produce lasers that are more efficient. The polymers that have so long been worked upon by a number of research groups due to their low-refractive indices have failed to completely trap light beams that fall on them and have not produced the desired result.
Researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign led by materials scientist Paul Braun have developed a 3-D optical wave-guide capable of bending focused laser light. The group has arranged silica beads to form photonic crystals.
This material acts as a reflector at all angles of incidence for any particular beam of light, the angle of reflection being dictated by the size of the silica beads. With channels created inside the material, light entering the material can be trapped and manipulated as desired, depending on the design of the channels. The new 3-D miniature wave-guides will help in developing optical chips sometime in the near future.
Source: technology review
