Thin film photonic crystals: synthesis and characterisation

The results of an investigation of the major factors that influence colloidal self-assembly of thin film photonic crystals are reported. The effect of temperature, relative humidity, sphere diameter, colloidal concentration and substrate angle were investigated: the results establish clearly that temperature is the most critical factor. Quantitative analysis of the results using Design of Experiments methodology has identified the optimum conditions for the growth of large area, low defect density thin film photonic crystals.