Optical properties of tetragonal photonic crystal synthesized via template-assisted self-assembly
TL;DR: In this paper, a face-centered tetragonal (fct), (001) oriented photonic crystal has been fabricated via a modified template-assisted colloidal self-assembly method with polystyrene spheres.
Abstract: A (001) oriented three-dimensionally periodic photonic crystal, free of cracks, has been fabricated via a modified template-assisted colloidal self-assembly method with polystyrene spheres. Analysis of the opal-type crystals has revealed the structure to be noncubic. This is a face-centered tetragonal (fct), (001) oriented photonic crystal. The optical properties of the crystals have been characterized at near-normal incidence by reflectance spectroscopy. It is found that the photonic stop band shifts to shorter wavelengths compared with an identical cubic structure oriented along the (001) direction. We have also simulated the stop band behavior of such fct crystals and their inverse silicon analogs, revealing that the polymer opal could provide an inverse template for the formation of photonic crystals with a complete band gap.
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TL;DR: This paper presents an overview of 2D colloidal crystals and nanostructure arrays fabricated by colloidal lithography, and different methods for fabricating self-assembled 1D colloid crystals and complex 2DColloidal crystal structures are summarized.
Abstract: Self-assembly of colloidal microspheres or nanospheres is an effective strategy for fabrication of ordered nanostructures. By combination of colloidal self-assembly with nanofabrication techniques, two-dimensional (2D) colloidal crystals have been employed as masks or templates for evaporation, deposition, etching, and imprinting, etc. These methods are defined as "colloidal lithography", which is now recognized as a facile, inexpensive, and repeatable nanofabrication technique. This paper presents an overview of 2D colloidal crystals and nanostructure arrays fabricated by colloidal lithography. First, different methods for fabricating self-assembled 2D colloidal crystals and complex 2D colloidal crystal structures are summarized. After that, according to the nanofabrication strategy employed in colloidal lithography, related works are reviewed as colloidal-crystal-assisted evaporation, deposition, etching, imprinting, and dewetting, respectively.
597 citations
TL;DR: Inverse opal structures with their porous and interconnected architecture span several technological arenas as mentioned in this paper, including optics and optoelectronics, energy storage, communications, sensor and biological applications, with a particular emphasis on the recent use of these three-dimensional porous structures in electrochemical energy storage technology.
Abstract: Photonic crystals (PhCs) influence the propagation of light by their periodic variation in dielectric contrast or refractive index. This review outlines the attractive optical qualities inherent to most PhCs namely the presence of full or partial photonic band gaps and the possibilities they present towards the inhibition of spontaneous emission and the localization of light. Colloidal self-assembly of polymer or silica spheres is one of the most favoured and low cost methods for the formation of PhCs as artificial opals. The state of the art in growth methods currently used for colloidal self-assembly are discussed and the use of these structures for the formation of inverse opal architectures is then presented. Inverse opal structures with their porous and interconnected architecture span several technological arenas – optics and optoelectronics, energy storage, communications, sensor and biological applications. This review presents several of these applications and an accessible overview of the physics of photonic crystal optics that may be useful for opal and inverse opal researchers in general, with a particular emphasis on the recent use of these three-dimensional porous structures in electrochemical energy storage technology. Progress towards all-optical integrated circuits may lie with the concepts of the photonic crystal, but the unique optical and structural properties of these materials and the convergence of PhC and energy storage disciplines may facilitate further developments and non-destructive optical analysis capabilities for (electro)chemical processes that occur within a wide variety of materials in energy storage research.
247 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a review of recent developments in self-assembly of polymer colloids into colloidal crystals, a good candidate material for photonic crystals, is presented, where the authors focus on controlling the morphology and improving the quality, as well as finding applications of the colloidal crystal.
Abstract: This article reviews recent developments in self-assembly of polymer colloids into colloidal crystals, a good candidate material for photonic crystals. Self-assembly strategy has developed as a facile and efficient method to fabricate colloidal crystals. Much research work has been focused on controlling the morphology and improving the quality, as well as finding applications of the colloidal crystals.
213 citations
TL;DR: This paper reviews the state-of-the-art techniques in the self-assembly of colloidal particles for the fabrication of large-area high-quality CCs and CCs with unique symmetries and outlook the future approaches in the Fabrication of perfect CCs to highlight their novel real-world applications.
Abstract: Over the last three decades, photonic crystals (PhCs) have attracted intense interests thanks to their broad potential applications in optics and photonics. Generally, these structures can be fabricated via either "top-down" lithographic or "bottom-up" self-assembly approaches. The self-assembly approaches have attracted particular attention due to their low cost, simple fabrication processes, relative convenience of scaling up, and the ease of creating complex structures with nanometer precision. The self-assembled colloidal crystals (CCs), which are good candidates for PhCs, have offered unprecedented opportunities for photonics, optics, optoelectronics, sensing, energy harvesting, environmental remediation, pigments, and many other applications. The creation of high-quality CCs and their mass fabrication over large areas are the critical limiting factors for real-world applications. This paper reviews the state-of-the-art techniques in the self-assembly of colloidal particles for the fabrication of large-area high-quality CCs and CCs with unique symmetries. The first part of this review summarizes the types of defects commonly encountered in the fabrication process and their effects on the optical properties of the resultant CCs. Next, the mechanisms of the formation of cracks/defects are discussed, and a range of versatile fabrication methods to create large-area crack/defect-free two-dimensional and three-dimensional CCs are described. Meanwhile, we also shed light on both the advantages and limitations of these advanced approaches developed to fabricate high-quality CCs. The self-assembly routes and achievements in the fabrication of CCs with the ability to open a complete photonic bandgap, such as cubic diamond and pyrochlore structure CCs, are discussed as well. Then emerging applications of large-area high-quality CCs and unique photonic structures enabled by the advanced self-assembly methods are illustrated. At the end of this review, we outlook the future approaches in the fabrication of perfect CCs and highlight their novel real-world applications.
145 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, face-centered cubic (fcc) (111)-orientated two-dimensional and three-dimensional (3D) crack-free silica colloidal crystals (CCs) were fabricated on patterned silicon substrates via a vertical deposition method.
Abstract: Face-centered cubic (fcc) (111)-orientated two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) crack-free silica colloidal crystals (CCs) were fabricated on patterned silicon substrates via a vertical deposition method. The influence of the surface properties of the substrate and the concentration of colloidal microspheres on the self-assembly were studied. The results showed that monolayer of silica microspheres self-assembled on a hydrophobic substrate surface while on a hydrophilic surface multilayer of silica microspheres formed under otherwise the same experimental conditions. The number of CC layers grown on the patterned substrate was proportional to the volume fraction of the colloidal microspheres. The optical properties of the samples were less influenced by the patterned surface with increasing the volume fraction of the colloidal suspension when the patterned substrates were fully covered by the CCs. The results presented in this paper reveal that the vertical deposition method can allow the forma...
23 citations
References
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TL;DR: If a three-dimensionally periodic dielectric structure has an electromagnetic band gap which overlaps the electronic band edge, then spontaneous emission can be rigorously forbidden.
Abstract: It has been recognized for some time that the spontaneous emission by atoms is not necessarily a fixed and immutable property of the coupling between matter and space, but that it can be controlled by modification of the properties of the radiation field. This is equally true in the solid state, where spontaneous emission plays a fundamental role in limiting the performance of semiconductor lasers, heterojunction bipolar transistors, and solar cells. If a three-dimensionally periodic dielectric structure has an electromagnetic band gap which overlaps the electronic band edge, then spontaneous emission can be rigorously forbidden.
12,787 citations
TL;DR: A new mechanism for strong Anderson localization of photons in carefully prepared disordered dielectric superlattices with an everywhere real positive dielectrics constant is described.
Abstract: A new mechanism for strong Anderson localization of photons in carefully prepared disordered dielectric superlattices with an everywhere real positive dielectric constant is described. In three dimensions, two photon mobility edges separate high- and low-frequency extended states from an intermediate-frequency pseudogap of localized states arising from remnant geometric Bragg resonances. Experimentally observable consequences are discussed.
9,067 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the spontaneous crystallization of monodisperse silica spheres into close-packed arrays is exploited for optical characterization of planar materials with diffractive optical properties.
Abstract: Materials whose dielectric constant varies spatially with submicrometer periodicity exhibit diffractive optical properties which are potentially valuable in a number of existing and emerging applications. Here, such systems are fabricated by exploiting the spontaneous crystallization of monodisperse silica spheres into close-packed arrays. By reliance on a vertical deposition technique to pack the spherical colloids into close-packed silica−air arrays, high quality samples can be prepared with thicknesses up to 50 μm. These samples are planar and thus suitable for optical characterization. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) of these materials illustrates the close-packed ordering of the spherical colloids in planes parallel to the substrate; cross-sectional SEM micrographs of the arrays as well as optical methods are used to measure sample thickness and uniformity. Normal-incidence transmission spectra in the visible and near-infrared regions show distinct peaks due to diffraction from the colloidal layer...
1,997 citations
TL;DR: This work describes a technique—three-dimensional holographic lithography—that is well suited to the production of three-dimensional structures with sub-micrometre periodicity, and has made microperiodic polymeric structures, and used these as templates to create complementary structures with higher refractive-index contrast.
Abstract: The term 'photonics' describes a technology whereby data transmission and processing occurs largely or entirely by means of photons. Photonic crystals are microstructured materials in which the dielectric constant is periodically modulated on a length scale comparable to the desired wavelength of operation. Multiple interference between waves scattered from each unit cell of the structure may open a 'photonic bandgap'--a range of frequencies, analogous to the electronic bandgap of a semiconductor, within which no propagating electromagnetic modes exist. Numerous device principles that exploit this property have been identified. Considerable progress has now been made in constructing two-dimensional structures using conventional lithography, but the fabrication of three-dimensional photonic crystal structures for the visible spectrum remains a considerable challenge. Here we describe a technique--three-dimensional holographic lithography--that is well suited to the production of three-dimensional structures with sub-micrometre periodicity. With this technique we have made microperiodic polymeric structures, and we have used these as templates to create complementary structures with higher refractive-index contrast.
1,737 citations
TL;DR: By assembling a thin layer of colloidal spheres on a silicon substrate, this work can obtain planar, single-crystalline silicon photonic crystals that have defect densities sufficiently low that the bandgap survives.
Abstract: Photonic bandgap crystals can reflect light for any direction of propagation in specific wavelength ranges1,2,3. This property, which can be used to confine, manipulate and guide photons, should allow the creation of all-optical integrated circuits. To achieve this goal, conventional semiconductor nanofabrication techniques have been adapted to make photonic crystals4,5,6,7,8,9. A potentially simpler and cheaper approach for creating three-dimensional periodic structures is the natural assembly of colloidal microspheres10,11,12,13,14,15. However, this approach yields irregular, polycrystalline photonic crystals that are difficult to incorporate into a device. More importantly, it leads to many structural defects that can destroy the photonic bandgap16,17. Here we show that by assembling a thin layer of colloidal spheres on a silicon substrate, we can obtain planar, single-crystalline silicon photonic crystals that have defect densities sufficiently low that the bandgap survives. As expected from theory, we observe unity reflectance in two crystalline directions of our photonic crystals around a wavelength of 1.3 micrometres. We also show that additional fabrication steps, intentional doping and patterning, can be performed, so demonstrating the potential for specific device applications.
1,649 citations