Fabrication of photonic band gap materials using microtransfer molded templates

A method to align layers of a multi-layer photonic band gap structure, the layers comprising a plurality of pairs of layers comprising a first layer and a second layer, the method comprising the steps of:

• for each pair of layers:
• pointing a laser at a first layer and a second layer stacked on the first layer at an approximately ninety degree angle to the first layer;
• determining if a resulting diffraction pattern is a pattern of spots in a square grid;
• rotating the second layer until the pattern of spots is in a square grid if the resulting diffraction pattern is not a pattern of spots in a square grid;
• and
• aligning the pairs of layers.

A method to manufacture a photonic band gap structure having a multi-layer structure, the multi-layer structure having a number of dielectric rods to form a plurality of planar layers, the plurality of planar layers one on the other to form a multi-dimensional structure, each planar layer having a plurality of dielectric rods arranged with parallel axes at a given spacing, each planar layer having its axes oriented at an approximately ninety degree angle with respect to adjacent planar layers, the method comprising the steps of:

• a) filling a plurality of grooves of an elastomeric mold with a polymer that can be decomposed via pyrolysis, each groove in the plurality of grooves in parallel with each other;
• b) curing the polymer to form a polymer layer of polymer rods;
• c) stamping the polymer layer by making contact with one of a substrate or a multi-layer polymer structure;
• d) forming the multi-layer polymer structure by repeating steps a to c until a desired number of polymer layers have been formed, the multi-layer polymer structure having channels, the polymer layers forming a plurality of pairs of layers including a first pair of layers comprising a first layer and a second layer;
• e) for the first pair of layers:
• pointing a laser at the first layer and the second layer stacked on the first layer at an approximately ninety degree angle to the first layer;
• determining if a resulting diffraction pattern is a pattern of spots in a square grid;
• rotating the second layer until the pattern of spots is in a square grid if the resulting diffraction pattern is not a pattern of spots in a square grid;
• f) aligning the plurality of pairs of layers;
• g) introducing a ceramic bearing material into the channels to form a ceramic and polymer structure;
• and
• h) heating the ceramic and polymer structure to decompose the polymer structure to create the multi-layer structure.