  We introduce a class of optical media based on adiabatically modulated,
dielectric-only, and potentially extremely low-loss, photonic crystals. The
media we describe represent a generalization of the eikonal limit of
transformation optics (TO). The foundation of the concept is the possibility to
fit frequency isosurfaces in the k-space of photonic crystals with elliptic
surfaces, allowing them to mimic the dispersion relation of light in
anisotropic effective media. Photonic crystal cloaks and other TO devices
operating at visible wavelengths can be constructed from optically transparent
substances like glasses, whose attenuation coefficient can be as small as 10
dB/km, suggesting the TO design methodology can be applied to the development
of optical devices not limited by the losses inherent to metal-based, passive
metamaterials.
