Structural and optical characterization of photonic crystals synthesized using the inward growing self-assembling method

We present a systematic analysis of three-dimensionally (3D) ordered photonic crystals fabricated using the recently reported inward growing self-assembling method. The structural and optical characterizations reveal extremely high quality features in these crystals. These include the high reflectance values in the first order stop band and the high energy optical response observed in all the samples, irrespective of the diameter of the spheres, even though the time for fabrication is less than three hours. The photonic stop band is tuned by varying the angle of incidence of light. The peak reflectance and the width of the photonic stop band are unaffected up to an angle of incidence of 45 degrees. At higher angles of incidence, the involvement of other planes in the Bragg reflection is qualitatively demonstrated, emphasizing the extent of ordering and the quality of photonic crystals.