Hybrid colloidal plasmonic-photonic crystals

We review the recently emerged class of hybrid metal-dielectric colloidal photonic crystals. The hybrid approach is understood as the combination of a dielectric photonic crystal with a continuous metal film. It allows to achieve a strong modification of the optical properties of photonic crystals by involving the light scattering at electronic excitations in the metal component into moulding of the light flow in series to the diffraction resonances occurring in the body of the photonic crystal. We consider different realizations of hybrid plasmonic-photonic crystals based on two- and three-dimensional colloidal photonic crystals in association with flat and corrugated metal films. In agreement with model calculations, different resonance phenomena determine the optical response of hybrid crystals leading to a broadly tuneable functionality of these crystals.     

一维光子晶体完全光子禁带与结构的关系

阐述了完全光子禁带的概念.用光学特征矩阵方法,通过数值模拟计算,讨论了一维光子晶体出现完全光子禁带与晶体结构和介质材料的折射率的密切关系.具体计算了用同样两种介质材料组成3种不同结构的一维光子晶体,对于TM及TE电磁模式在不同入射角下的透射率谱,从中找出它们的完全光子禁带,发现3种结构的完全光子禁带的波长范围及宽度各不相同.另外,研究结果表明组成光子晶体的两种材料的折射率差别越大,两种电磁模的禁带越宽,越容易产生完全光子禁带.简单讨论了完全光子禁带出现的条件.     

Three-dimensional nanoscopy of colloidal crystals

We demonstrate the direct three-dimensional imaging of densely packed colloidal nanostructures using stimulated emission depletion microscopy. A combination of two de-excitation patterns yields a resolution of 43 nm in the lateral and 125 nm in the axial direction and an effective focal volume that is by 126-fold smaller than that of a corresponding confocal microscope. The mapping of a model system of spheres organized by confined convective assembly unambiguously identified face-centered cubic, hexagonal close-packed, random hexagonal close-packed, and body-centered cubic structures.     

3D-printable colloidal photonic crystals

The architecture of the colloidal photonic crystals (CPCs) is of paramount importance to their functionality and applications. Nevertheless, the realization of CPCs with arbitrarily designed, volumetrically sophisticated structures at the macroscale remains challenging. In this work, a printable CPC ink was developed. By combining this ink with a digital light processing (DLP)-based three-dimensional (3D) printing system, we were able to fabricate the CPC superstructures featuring both digitally defined macroscale geometries and structural colors originating from the ordered structures at the sub-micron scale. Moreover, besides the arbitrarily adjustable and precisely designable architectures, the optical properties, mechanical performances, and stimuli-responsiveness of the printed objects could also be facilely tuned by the composition of the ink or the printing parameters of the DLP system. This technology endows us the ability to fabricate CPCs with a multitude of desirable functions as well as mimic the hierarchical structures and color-manipulation strategies of some creatures in nature, which paves the way for potentially broad applications in intelligent color displays, 3D integrated sensors, biomimetic color-morphing soft robots, and smart anti-counterfeiting labels, among others.     

Temperature effect on the bandgaps of surface and bulk acoustic waves in two-dimensional phononic crystals

In this paper, we analyzed the temperature effect on two-dimensional phononic crystals. Bandgap variations of both of the bulk modes and surface modes due to changing of temperature in an air/quartz band structure from 0 to 50 degrees C were calculated and discussed. The results show that the elastic bandgaps can be enlarged or reduced by adjusting the temperature of the band structure. The temperature effects potentially can be used for fine-tuning of the phononic bandgap frequency.     

单分散SiO2微球的合成及胶体晶体的生长

对传统的"Stober-Fink"合成SiO2微球的工艺进行了改进,运用"籽晶生长法"合成了单分散SiO2微球,该法可以准确地控制微球尺寸,提高微球的球形度.采用垂直沉积法制备了胶体晶体,并对样品的结构和光学性能进行了表征.研究了微球尺寸对垂直沉积SiO2胶体晶体光子带隙的影响,结果表明,通过控制微球粒径,可调节光子晶体的带隙位置.     

二氧化硅胶体晶体制备方法进展

SiO2 胶体晶体制备过程的研究是许多新型功能材料发展的基础 ,对人们进一步了解物质在纳米、微米尺度的许多特殊性质也将具有指导意义。本文综述了SiO2 胶体晶体制备方法的进展。     

Mode tuning in dispersive and non-dispersive photonic crystals by defects

Transmission spectrum of two-dimensional photonic crystal for dispersive and non-dispersive photonic crystals (PhC) is calculated. Calculations show that by considering defect electromagnetic waves can propagate in PhC band gap. Transmission spectrum for different types of defects is compared together. The number and position of transmission modes in PhC waveguide depend on host PhC and type of defects. By selecting suitable PhC material and defect type, the number and position of transmission modes can be controlled.     

氘代聚苯乙烯胶体晶体的制备及光学性质研究

以水作为介质合成了高度单分散的氘代聚苯乙烯微球,并利用垂直沉积法制备了高质量的氘代聚苯乙烯胶体晶体.傅立叶变换红外光谱清楚地表明氘代苯乙烯单体发生了聚合反应;扫描电镜表面分析展示出胶体微球的高度有序排列,断面分析表明氘代聚苯乙烯胶体晶体为面心立方结构;光学透射谱显示出氘代聚苯乙烯胶体晶体的高次布拉格衍射特征,通过和理论计算的能带结构对比,进一步证实了氘代聚苯乙烯胶体晶体为面心立方结构;变角度光学透射谱测量显示,随着入射角的增大,(111)面的衍射峰蓝移,而(200)和(220)面的衍射峰发生红移.     

Patterning microsphere surfaces by templating colloidal crystals

By using the upper single or double layers in colloidal crystals as masks during Au vapor deposition, various Au patterns have been successfully constructed on the surfaces of the lower spheres. The dimension and geometry of the Au patterns obtained are dependent on the orientation of the colloidal crystal templates. Our patterning procedure is independent of the curvature and chemical composition of the surfaces, which definitely pave a promising way to pattern highly curved surfaces.     

Fe3O4 octahedral colloidal crystals

We present a facile and controllable method for the large-scale fabrication of highly-ordered octahedral Fe₃O₄ colloidal “single crystals” without the assistance of a substrate. Oleic acid is used to reduce the solubility of the nano-building blocks in colloidal solution and to induce a “crystallization” process. Our colloidal crystals are of multimicron size and show typical crystallographic characteristics. They have a very robust structure and can serve as a novel ordered magnetic mesoporous material with a relatively narrow pore size distribution. The sample possesses an extremely high Verwey transition temperature (T _V) of 100 K and a high saturation magnetization (M _S) of 86 emu/g at 5 K based on its good crystallinity, as well as the interparticle dipolar interaction behavior arising from its unique structure. Electrochemical measurements have demonstrated the excellent capacity of the mesoporous colloidal crystals when used in lithium-ion batteries.      

Silica colloidal crystals for enhanced fluorescence detection in microarrays

Silica colloidal crystals were investigated for their potential as high surface area materials to enhance sensitivity over planar surfaces for microarrays using fluorescence detection. A relation was derived showing how crystal thickness and transmission, as well as colloid size, combine to determine the optically accessible surface area for enhancing sensitivity. Experimentally, crystals of 250-nm colloids were prepared with thicknesses determined by SEM to be 1.6, 4.2, and 11.0 microm. The material was sintered at 1000 degrees C to make it durable without affecting the crystalline structure, as confirmed by SEM. UV/visible spectrometry showed the depth of penetration (1/e) to be 8.4 microm at 488 nm for these materials. Fluorescein-labeled streptavidin and biotin were used as a model ligand-receptor pair. For the fluorescence measurements, biotin was covalently bonded to the silica surfaces, and the fluorescence was detected from the captured streptavidin-fluorescein. The observed fluorescence enhancement agreed well with the theory developed here. Compared to a planar surface, the colloidal crystal of 11.0 microm in thickness enhanced the fluorescence by nearly a factor of 80, with only a 0.3% increase in fluorescence background.     

Electrophoretic deposition of colloidal crystals assisted by hydrodynamic flows

Latex-based colloidal crystals have been grown by electrophoretic deposition. The deposition has been assisted by hydrodynamic von Kármán-like flows, which lead to quantitative improvements. It has been studied the influence of applied voltage, deposition time and flow rate on the number of deposited layers and on the mean domain size. The samples were studied with microscopy and precision weight measurement. It has been found that there is a critical time after which the deposition mechanism changes, and the behavior of the system before and after this critical time is considered. The mean domain size and the deposition time were reduced to non-dimensional forms which show the collapse of the data for different applied voltages and flow rates into one curve.     

单分散SiO2胶体球制备及其胶体晶体组装

运用胶体化学法在乙醇介质中合成SiO2胶体球,将制得的样品在30℃下用双氧水浸泡处理48h.用扫描电子显微镜(SEM)、傅立叶红外光谱(FT-TR)、Zeta电位仪和标准氢氧化钠滴定法对其形貌、结构和表面电学性质进行分析.结果表明样品平均粒径为292nm,平均标准偏差小于5%;经双氧水浸泡处理后,SiO2胶体球表面羟基数目增多,在水溶液中的Zeta电位从-55.72mV提高到-63.26mV,表面电荷密度从0.19μC/cm2提高到0.28μC/cm2.通过垂直沉积法,在40℃和60%相对湿度条件下制备出有序性较好、密排结构的SiO2胶体晶体.在SEM下,观察到这种胶体晶体是面心立方(fcc)密排结构,其(111)晶面平行于基底.透射光谱表明,所制备的胶体晶体在(111)方向具有光子晶体的不完全带隙性质.     

Observation of empty liquids and equilibrium gels in a colloidal clay

The relevance of anisotropic interactions in colloidal systems has recently emerged in the context of the rational design of new soft materials. Patchy colloids of different shapes, patterns and functionalities are considered the new building blocks of a bottom-up approach toward the realization of self-assembled bulk materials with predefined properties. The ability to tune the interaction anisotropy will make it possible to recreate molecular structures at the nano- and micro-scales (a case with tremendous technological applications), as well as to generate new unconventional phases, both ordered and disordered. Recent theoretical studies suggest that the phase diagram of patchy colloids can be significantly altered by limiting the particle coordination number (that is, valence). New concepts such as empty liquids—liquid states with vanishing density—and equilibrium gels—arrested networks of bonded particles, which do not require an underlying phase separation to form—have been formulated. Yet no experimental evidence of these predictions has been provided. Here we report the first observation of empty liquids and equilibrium gels in a complex colloidal clay, and support the experimental findings with numerical simulations.     

Simulation and fabrication of binary colloidal photonic crystals and their inverse structures

Theoretical and experimental investigations have demonstrated that full bandgaps are not easy to achieve in the face-centered cubic (fcc) unary and binary structures; even for unary inverse opals with high refractive index network, the bandgaps are not as large as 1D or 2D structures. In this work, we simulated the bandgap of a binary inverse opal, which is over 16% larger than that of a unary inverse crystal. Two kinds of binary colloidal crystals and their inverse structures have been fabricated by a horizontal deposition method.     

On the parameters influencing the deposition of polystyrene colloidal crystals

Colloidal crystals of polystyrene particles of 1.0, 1.4 and 2.8 μm diameter have been prepared by vertical deposition. The influence of parameters such as temperature, particle size and concentration as well as dispersion medium has been studied. The size of domain and the crystalline structure of the particle arrays have been analyzed by optical microscopy. The quality of the crystals has been improved (minimizing cracks) by controlling sedimentation (density matching), evaporation (volatility of the medium) and drying (co-solvents).