The plane wave expansion method for calculating photonic bandgap structures is reformulated by using the method of Fourier factorization with complex polarization bases. A brief description of the method is shown, and then two examples of photonic crystals are calculated, one with square and another with hexagonal periodicity of arranged elements.
The convergence of the presented approach is discussed by comparing with previous approaches. Finally, as an example, propagation eigenmodes of a photonic crystal based waveguide are calculated.