The three-dimensional colloidal crystal growth on the end face of optical fiber: method and characterization

Abstract

The growing three-dimensional nanostructures colloidal crystal on the end face of optical fiber by isothermal heating evaporation induced self-assembly method is presented. The wet chemical etching technique is used to etch single mode fiber to obtain a shallow circular cavity between the coating and cladding. The optical fiber with the etched cavity was immersed upside into solution containing polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA). The PMMA spheres used here had an average diameter of 690nm; it takes one week for the sphere particles to completely settle. The nanostructure morphology of the colloidal crystal is examined by using the SEM. The colloidal crystal has a face-centered-cubic (FCC) structure. The optical characterization of the colloidal crystal is also analyzed. The simulation and experiment result show that the colloidal crystal formed by PMMA spheres has an obvious photonic band gap in the wavelength 1543nm that is typical wavelength of optical communication. The spectra feature of the optical fiber colloidal crystal is measured by using optical sensing analyzer. The experimental results show the band gap at the 1543nm, consistent with the simulation results.