High filling fraction gallium phosphide inverse opals by atomic layer deposition

Abstract

High filling fraction gallium phosphide (GaP) inverse opals were fabricated by atomic layer deposition within the void spaces of silica colloidal crystal templates. Depositions were performed from 400to500°C using trimethylgallium and tris(dimethylamino)phosphine precursors. The resulting films were characterized by optical reflectance, which indicated infiltration as high as 100% of the conformal film growth maximum, corresponding to a volume filling fraction of 0.224. X-ray diffraction measurements confirmed the crystallinity of the film. These results indicate the fabrication of three-dimensional photonic crystals using a III-V optoelectronic material with sufficient dielectric contrast to form a full photonic band gap in the visible.

Reinforcing nanocolloidal crystals by tuning interparticle bonding via atomic layer deposition

“…Unlike CVD, ALD is self-limiting by keeping the precursors separate, enabling ultrahigh-precision control over the deposition and providing superior film conformity and uniformity even for complex structures with ultrahigh aspect ratios [15][16][17][18][19]. Thus, ALD has been used as a way of infiltrating NCC templates to generate inverse opals [19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26]. Our previous studies [27,28] demonstrated that ALD can be used to significantly reinforce films composed of randomly packed polydisperse nanoparticles.…”

Aminophosphines: their chemistry and role as ligands and synthons

“…Aminophosphines were reported to possess antimicrobial activity 14. Gallium phosphide (GaP) thin film depositions were performed between 400 and 500 °C using trimethylgallium and P(NMe 2 ) 3 and the results indicate their possible use in optoelectronic materials 246. More importantly, aminophosphines have also started serving as effective ligands in synthesizing a variety of metal complexes which in turn have found applications as catalysts in a real huge variety of organic reactions and conversions.…”

A bottom-up fabrication method for the production of visible light active photonic crystals

“…The successful realization of the 3D patterning of ncSi here is achieved by combining these two straightforward processes, hence making it simple yet scalable. In addition previous methods adopted for the preparation of sub-micrometric 3D inverse opals were based on the deposition of the required dielectric/functional material into the voids of self-assembled opal templates by means of chemical infiltration followed by reduction, 75,78,79 electrodeposition, 38,80-83 atomic layer deposition (ALD) [84][85][86][87] or by CVD. 22,39,51,88 Although these methods have enabled the experimental validation of some of the unique optical properties of high dielectric contrast PCs, the extensive use of them may be limited due to a number of factors such as the complexity of the steps involved, the structural fragility of the opals prepared, as well as their limitations in achieving a uniform infiltration/deposition.…”