CdSe/CdS nanorods-polymer nanocomposites patternable by e-beam lithography: A novel active 2D photonic quasicrystal simulated, designed, fabricated and characterized

Abstract

Quasiperiodic crystals (QCs) are a new class of materials that have fascinating optical properties lying somewhere between those of disordered and period structures. Advances in 2D photonic structures are expected in the introduction of active functionality into a 2D photonic QC. Semiconductor nanostructures are a very promising material as an active medium. CdSe/CdS core/shell nanorods (NR) present the appealing characteristics of strong and tunable light emission from green to red, are highly fluorescent and show linearly polarized emission. These characteristics open the way to a new class of hybrid devices based on polymers and colloidal NRs in which the unique optical properties of the inorganic moiety are combined with the processability of the host matrix to develop new high performing optical devices such as organic light-emitting diodes, ultra-low threshold lasers and non-linear devices. In this paper two-dimensional (2D) active new designed PQCs which consist of air rods in a nanocomposite prepared by incorporating CdSe/CdS core/shell nanorods (NR) in a polymer are proposed and experimentally demonstrated. Scanning electron microscopy and far field diffraction are used to characterize the experimental structures.