An optical system is disclosed. The optical system comprising: a substrate; and a subwavelength photonic crystal waveguide atop the substrate, wherein the subwavelength photonic crystal waveguide comprises a periodic one or two-dimensional array of two or more interleaved dielectric pillars; wherein the periodicity of the one or two-dimensional array is constant, a combination of two or more periods, or random; wherein the one or two-dimensional array is substantially linear or curved; wherein each of the pillars of the one or two-dimensional array is at least one of a triangular prism, a trapezoidal prism, an elliptic cylinder, a cylinder, a tube, a frustum, a pyramid, a trapezoidal prism, and an asymmetric frustum; and wherein each of the pillars of the one or two-dimensional array comprises a solid, liquid, and/or gas. Other embodiments are described and claimed.