Layered photonic crystals

A method of fabricating a photonic crystal, comprising:

• a) providing a substrate;
• b) exposing the substrate to a plurality of first microspheres made of a first material, the first material being of a type that will bond to the substrate and form a self-passivated layer of first microspheres to produce a layer of microspheres;
• c) modifying the first layer of microspheres to permit the first layer of microspheres to bond with other microspheres to thereby produce a bondable layer;
• and
• d) exposing the bondable layer to a plurality of second microspheres to form a second layer of microspheres.

A photonic crystal structure, comprising:

• a substrate processed to bond preferentially to a first material in selected areas;
• a first layer of first microspheres, the first layer being one microsphere deep, the first microspheres comprising the first material and bonded to the selected areas of the substrate;
• and
• a second layer of second microspheres one microsphere deep and bonded to the first layer of microspheres.

A method of fabricating a photonic crystal, comprising:

• providing a substrate;
• bonding a single layer of microspheres one microsphere deep to the substrate to form a first layer;
• and
• bonding a single layer of microspheres one microsphere deep to the first layer to form a second layer.

A method of fabricating a photonic crystal, comprising:

• a) providing a templated substrate;
• b) exposing the templated substrate to a plurality of first microspheres made of a first material, the first material being of a type that will bond to the templated substrate and form a self-passivated layer of first microspheres to produce a layer of microspheres;
• c) modifying the first layer of microspheres to permit the first layer of microspheres to bond with other microspheres to thereby produce a bondable layer by coating the first microspheres with a polyelectrolyte film having a first charge;
• and
• d) exposing the bondable layer to a plurality of second microspheres having charge opposite the first charge to form a second layer of microspheres.

A photonic crystal structure, comprising:

• a templated substrate processed to bond preferentially to a first material in selected areas;
• a first layer of first microspheres, the first layer being one microsphere deep, the first microspheres comprising the first material and bonded to the selected areas of the templated substrate;
• and
• a charged polymer coating on the first microspheres.

A method of fabricating a photonic crystal, comprising:

• providing a templated substrate;
• bonding a single layer of charged polymer coated microspheres one microsphere deep to the templated substrate to form a first layer;
• and
• bonding a single layer of charged polymer coated microspheres one microsphere deep to the first layer to form a second layer.