This work deals with one-dimensional infinite perturbation---namely, line defects---in periodic media. In optics, such defects are created to construct an (open) waveguide that concentrates light. The existence and computation of the eigenmodes is a crucial issue. This is related to a self-adjoint eigenvalue problem associated to a PDE in an unbounded domain (in the directions orthogonal to the line defect), which makes both the analysis and the computations more complex. Using a Dirichlet-to-Neumann approach, we show that this problem is equivalent to one set on a small neighborhood of the defect. Contrary to existing methods, this one is exact, but there is a price to be paid: the reduction of the problem leads to a nonlinear eigenvalue problem of a fixed point nature. © 2013, Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics