Colloidal photonic crystals: from lasing to microfluidics

Abstract

Colloidal photonic crystals are photonic crystals made by bottom-up physical chemistry strategies from monodisperse colloidal particles. The self-assembly process is automatically leading to inherently three-dimensional structures with their optical properties determined by the periodicity, induced by this ordering process, in the dielectric properties of the colloidal material. The best-known optical effect is the photonic band gap, the range of energies, or wavelengths, that is forbidden for photons to exist in the structure. This photonic band gap is similar to the electronic band gap of electronic semiconductor crystals. We have previously shown how with the proper photonic band gap engineering, we can insert allowed pass band defect modes and use the suppressing band gap in combination with the transmitting pass band to induce spectral narrowing of emission. We show now how with a high-quality narrow pass band in a broad stop band, it is possible to achieve photonic crystal lasing in self-assembled colloidal photonic crystals with a planar defect. In addition, with proper surface treatment in combination with patterning, we prepare for addressable integrated photonics. Finally, by incorporating a water in- and outlet, we can create optomicrofluidic structures on a photonic crystal allowing the optical probing of microreactors or micro-stopped-flow in the lab-on-an-optical-chip.