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Control of Randomness in Microsphere-Based Photonic Crystals Assembled by Langmuir-Blodgett Process
Sarun Atiganyanun1, Mi Zhou1, Omar K Abudayyeh2
1Nanoscience and Microsystems Engineering, University of New Mexico , Albuquerque, New Mexico 87131, United States.
Langmuir : the ACS Journal of Surfaces and Colloids
|November 9, 2017
Summary
Researchers explored introducing controlled disorder into photonic structures using Langmuir-Blodgett assembly. Optimal conditions were found to manipulate structural order for unique optical properties.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Optics
- Nanotechnology
Background:
- Biological photonic structures often display disorder within ordered frameworks, influencing their optical properties.
- The precise role of this disorder in creating unique optical functionalities remains incompletely understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the controlled introduction of randomness into photonic structures.
- To understand how disorder influences optical properties by studying Langmuir-Blodgett assembly of microspheres.
Main Methods:
- Theoretical modeling of the Langmuir-Blodgett assembly process.
- Experimental investigation of microsphere assembly under varying surface pressure and substrate pulling speed.
- Analysis of structural order and its relationship to assembly parameters.
Main Results:
- Identified conditions of surface pressure and pulling speed for maximum structural order in microsphere assembly.
- Demonstrated that moderate decreases in structural order can be achieved along an optimal assembly trajectory.
- Showed that deviations from optimal conditions significantly disrupt structural order.
- Determined that increasing surface pressure with layer number is necessary for ordered multilayer assembly.
Conclusions:
- Established quantitative relationships between surface pressure and pulling speed for controlled disorder in multilayer photonic structures.
- Provided a method for controllably introducing randomness into periodic photonic structures.
- Advanced the understanding of how structural disorder impacts the optical properties of engineered materials.
