Self-assembled 3D photonic crystals from ZnO colloidal spheres

Eric W. Seelig, Betty Tang, Alexey Yamilov, Hui Cao, R. P.H. Chang*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

229 Scopus citations

Abstract

We present a novel method for the controlled synthesis of monodisperse ZnO colloidal spheres. These spheres are self-assembled into fcc periodic arrays. Optical measurements, including reflection-mode optical microscopy and transmission and single-domain reflection spectroscopy, reveal that the periodic arrays exhibit a photonic band gap in the (1 1 1) direction of the fcc lattice, and calculations are presented to estimate the effective value of the refractive index of the colloidal spheres. Finally, photoluminescence (PL) measurements show that the ZnO lasing thresholds are lower in periodic structures than in random arrays of identical spheres.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)257-263
Number of pages7
JournalMaterials Chemistry and Physics
Volume80
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Apr 29 2003

Funding

This work is supported by the National Science Foundation under grant number ECS-9877113 and by the Northwestern University Materials Research Science and Engineering Center.

Keywords

  • Colloidal spheres
  • Photonic crystals
  • Self-assembly
  • Zinc oxide

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Materials Science
  • Condensed Matter Physics

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