Colloidal co-crystallization: A new route for production of three-dimensional metallodielectric photonic crystals

Growth of three-dimensional (3D) photonic crystals is most interesting research in new and enhancing devices performance ranging from sensor, optoelectronic, photovoltaic and also surface enhance Raman scattering. Co-crystallization with bottom up technique was introduced in producing 3D photonic crystals with metal properties or so called as metallodielectric photonic crystals and also its inverse structure. In this study, poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) particles, acid-hydrolyzed tetraethylorthosilicate solution and pre-formed gold nanoparticles was combined followed by the removal of PMMA template. Relatively large (10 s of mm), robust and crack-free films with thickness of approximately below 20 deposition layers was successfully produced by this simple yet effective route. Its morphology, particle size and optical properties were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), optical bench set-up.