Synthetic opal and photonic crystal

摘要

A colloidal suspension of particles is rapidly self-assembled with a minimum number of defects into a densely packed array of particles on a substrate under simultaneous sedimentation and annealing forces. The particles may be ordered as an opal structure. Optionally, the synthesized structure may incorporate an electrolyte and be used as a sacrificial form for micromolding an inverse structure. The inverse structure may exhibit a photonic band gap. Optionally, necking between particles may be adjusted after micromolding. Furthermore, a shell may alter physical properties, such as protecting a thermally stimulated photonic band gap device. These low cost methods allow more applications to become commercially viable.

主权项

1. A system for forming an opal crystal including:
a magnetic suspension including a suspending fluid and colloidal particles; a substrate; a crystallization cell for simultaneously sedimenting and annealing said crystal including:
a sedimentation component capable of attracting said particles to said substrate; andan annealing component capable of sequentially electromagnetically oscillating said particles along the direction of multiple crystallographic axes.