Fabrication of 3D Photonic Crystals of Ellipsoids: Convective Self-Assembly in Magnetic Field

Three-dimensional photonic crystals of ellipsoidal colloidal particles are prepared by direct convective self-assembly from suspension with the aid of a magnet. The magnetic field provides the orientational order, which is additionally needed for these colloidal particles with symmetry lower than spherical. The positional order is provided by the convection, just as for spherical colloids.