Metallodielectric photonic crystals assembled from monodisperse spherical colloids of bismuth and lead

Monodisperse metallic and metallodielectric spherical colloids have been synthesized in large quantities and explored as building blocks for fabricating three-dimensional metallodielectric photonic crystals. Both measurements and calculations revealed large photonic bandgaps covering optical wavelengths from the visible up to the near-IR region for the metallic (Bi and Pb) and metallodielectric (with a silica coating) colloids (see Figure).