Nanoassembly of Polydisperse Photonic Crystals based on Binary and Ternary Polymer Opal Alloys

TL;DR

This paper presents a novel method for creating ordered binary and ternary photonic crystals from polydisperse polymer spheres using BIOS, enabling complex structures with less strict particle uniformity.

Contribution

It introduces a new nanoassembly technique that produces complex photonic crystals from polydisperse spheres, reducing the need for monodispersity compared to existing methods.

Findings

Successful fabrication of binary and ternary photonic crystals

Reduced particle monodispersity requirements

Distinct opaline colored films with varied sphere size ratios

Abstract

Ordered binary and ternary photonic crystals, composed of different sized polymer-composite spheres with diameter ratios up to 120%, are generated using bending induced oscillatory shearing (BIOS). This viscoelastic system creates polydisperse equilibrium structures, producing mixed opaline colored films with greatly reduced requirements for particle monodispersity, and very different sphere size ratios, compared to other methods of nano-assembly.