Growth of Large Colloidal Crystals with Their (100) Planes Orientated Parallel to the Surfaces of Supporting Substrates

Abstract

Templating against two‐dimensional (2D) regular arrays of square pyramidal pits etched in Si(100) wafers has been exploited to fabricate colloidal crystals with their (100) planes oriented parallel to the substrates (see Figure for an SEM image). The capability and feasibility of this method have been demonstrated by crystallizing 1.0, 0.48, and 0.25 μm polystyrene beads into 3D opaline lattices having such an orientation over areas as large as several square centimeters. Like their (111)‐oriented cousins, these long‐range ordered lattices of spherical colloids are useful in many areas such as photonics and porous materials. In particular, the ability to generate large colloidal crystals with adjustable spatial orientations will allow one to systematically investigate their photonic band structures in an effort to elucidate the structure–property relationship.

Template-Induced Growth of Close-Packed and Non-Close-Packed Colloidal Crystals during Solvent Evaporation

“…11 Recently, Yin and co-workers have furthermore demonstrated the growth of fcc(100)-oriented colloidal crystals using an alternative templating procedure. 18 In their setup, 19,20 the patterned substrate is similarly oriented with respect to gravity as in our tilted horizontal setup.…”

On‐Chip Integration of Functional Hybrid Materials and Components in Nanophotonics and Optoelectronics

“…Well -ordered high -quality lattices could not be observed using these methods. In order to confi ne and control colloidal assemblies, patterned topography of the substrate, like wells [83] , lithographically patterned reliefs [84] , or microfl uidic channels [85] are used in the literature. The ratio of the size of the particle to the size of the patterned feature affects the formation of the resulting lattices [86] .…”

Nanostructured Systems from Low‐Dimensional Building Blocks

“…The formation of specific microstructures within the colloidal crystals is important for the fabrication of opti- cal cavities, waveguides, and photonic chips. Besides control over the size, shape, and position of the aggregates, work demonstrated by Blaaderen, Ozin, and Xia et al showed that relief structure-assisted self-assembly can also provide effective control over the assembly structures [66,71,72]. For example, crystallization of colloidal particles on the substrates patterned with specific structures (e.g., square pyramidal pits) can produce face-centered cubic crystals with preferred orientations (see Fig.…”

“…For example, crystallization of colloidal particles on the substrates patterned with specific structures (e.g., square pyramidal pits) can produce face-centered cubic crystals with preferred orientations (see Fig. 3.10) [66,71,72].…”