Full Paper

Site-Selective Self-Assembly of Colloidal Photonic Crystals

  1. Sanna Arpiainen1,*,
  2. Fredrik Jonsson2,
  3. James R. Dekker3,
  4. Gudrun Kocher2,
  5. Worawut Khunsin2,
  6. Clivia M. Sotomayor Torres2,4,
  7. Jouni Ahopelto1

Article first published online: 2 MAR 2009

DOI: 10.1002/adfm.200801612

Issue

Advanced Functional Materials

Advanced Functional Materials

Volume 19, Issue 8, pages 1247–1253, April 23, 2009

Additional Information

How to Cite

Arpiainen, S., Jonsson, F., Dekker, J. R., Kocher, G., Khunsin, W., Torres, C. M. S. and Ahopelto, J. (2009), Site-Selective Self-Assembly of Colloidal Photonic Crystals. Advanced Functional Materials, 19: 1247–1253. doi: 10.1002/adfm.200801612

Author Information

  1. 1

    VTT Micro and Nanoelectronics P.O. Box 1000, FIN-02044 VTT (Finland)

  2. 2

    Tyndall National Institute, University College Cork Lee Maltings, Cork (Ireland)

  3. 3

    VTT Center for MEMS and Heterogeneous integration P.O. Box 1000, FIN-02044 VTT (Finland)

  4. 4

    Present addresses: Catalan Institute of Nanotechnology, Campus de Bellaterra, Edifici CM7, ES 08193 Bellaterra Barcelona (Spain) and Catalan Institute of Research and Advanced Studies (ICREA), 08010 Barcelona (Spain)

*VTT Micro and Nanoelectronics P.O. Box 1000, FIN-02044 VTT (Finland).

Publication History

  1. Issue published online: 20 APR 2009
  2. Article first published online: 2 MAR 2009
  3. Manuscript Revised: 18 DEC 2008
  4. Manuscript Received: 31 OCT 2008

Funded by

  • Science Foundation Ireland. Grant Number: 02/IN.1/172
  • Academy of Finland TULE Research Program

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Keywords:

  • capillary flow;
  • opals;
  • photonics;
  • photonic crystals;
  • self-assembly

Graphical Abstract

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Capillary driven self-assembly (CDSA) is a scalable method for site-selective self-assembly of colloidal crystals on topologically patterned substrates, such as wafers containing integrated optics components that are to be coupled with the crystals. In the figure, a 20 μm long crystalline silica opal (thickness 10 μm) is interposed between two ridge waveguides on a photonic chip.

Abstract

A scalable method for site-selective, directed self-assembly of colloidal opals on topologically patterned substrates is presented. Here, such substrate contains optical waveguides which couple to the colloidal crystal. The site-selectivity is achieved by a capillary network, whereas the self-assembly process is based on controlled solvent evaporation. In the deposition process, a suspension of colloidal microspheres is dispensed on the substrate and driven into the desired crystallization sites by capillary flow. The method has been applied to realize colloidal crystals from monodisperse dielectric spheres with diameters ranging from 290 to 890 nm. The method can be implemented in an industrial wafer-scale process.

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