Barium Titanate Inverted Opals—Synthesis, Characterization, and Optical Properties

Abstract

Barium titanate inverted opals with powder and film morphologies were synthesized from barium ethoxide and titanium isopropoxide in the interstitial spaces of a polystyrene opal. This procedure involves infiltration of precursors into the interstices of the polystyrene opal template followed by hydrolytic polycondensation of the precursors to amorphous barium titanate and removal of the polystyrene opal by solvent extraction or calcination. In-situ variable temperature powder X-ray diffraction and micro-Raman spectroscopy allow one to observe the thermally induced transformation of the as-synthesized amorphous barium titanate inverted opal to the nanocrystalline form. In this way, a nanocrystalline barium titanate inverted opal can be engineered as either the cubic or tetragonal polymorph. Control of this process is key to the practical realization of a room-temperature stable ferroelectric barium titanate inverted opal that can be thermally tuned through the ferroelectric–paraelectric transition around the Curie temperature. Optical characterization demonstrated photonic crystal behavior of the inverted barium titanate opals and results were in good agreement with photonic band structure calculations. The synthesis of optical quality ferroelectric barium titanate inverted opals provides an opportunity to electrically and optically engineer the photonic band structure and the possibility of developing tunable three-dimensional photonic crystal devices.