Face centered cubic photonic bandgap materials based on opal-semiconductor composites

We discuss photonic crystal properties of semi-conductor-opal composites and explore the possibility of using these structures as photonic bandgap (PBG) materials in the visible and near-infrared region of the spectrum. Integrated reflectance in the optical region is used to show that the photonic crystal behavior of InP-opal is enhanced with respect to the bare matrix as a result of the new refractive index contrast. Order-N band structure and transfer matrix calculations have proved to be in good agreement with the experiments. In addition, a strong coupling effect has been observed between CdS photoluminescence and the photonic structure, which leads to a partial inhibition of the spontaneous emission.