Buried linear extrinsic defects in colloidal photonic crystals

Linear extrinsic defects can be embedded inside the lattice of a silica colloidal photonic-crystal film via a directed self-assembly strategy involving a combination of top-down photolithography and bottom-up colloidal assembly. High-spatial-resolution scanning micro-optical spectroscopy proves to be an effective means of characterizing the photonic crystal properties of the buried defects (see Figure) within the film.