Opal and Inverse-opals Based Photonic Band Gap Crystals
Mamadou Diop and Roger A. Lessard
This paper reviews the PBG theory, the crystallization of monodisperse colloidal solutions and a method which enables to build three-dimensional periodic structures using polystyrene microspheres. Two techniques which increase the refractive index contrast are also described. One is based on the inverse-opal method and the other on the incorporation of silver between the interstices of a colloidal crystal.