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Self-Assembled Binary Photonic Crystals under the Active Confinement and Their Light Trapping
Tian-Chen Huang1, Xing-Ping Zhou1, Chun-Lai Ren1
1National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures and Department of Physics, Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China.
Langmuir : the ACS Journal of Surfaces and Colloids
|March 29, 2020
Summary
Active confinement with oscillating boundaries enables self-assembly of novel colloidal crystals. These dynamic structures confine light perfectly, offering potential for enhanced light-matter interactions in tunable photonic devices.
Area of Science:
- Colloidal science
- Materials science
- Photonics
Background:
- Conventional passive confinement limits self-assembly of ordered structures.
- Active confinement, featuring movable boundaries, offers new possibilities.
- Understanding colloidal self-assembly is key for advanced materials.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the self-assembly of oppositely charged colloidal particles under active confinement.
- To explore the formation of ordered structures and their optical properties.
- To demonstrate the potential of active confinement for creating photonic crystals.
Main Methods:
- Brownian dynamics simulations were employed to model particle interactions and confinement.
- Analysis of electrostatic energy and particle mobility under dynamic boundary conditions.
- Numerical simulations to verify light confinement in the fabricated photonic slab.
Main Results:
- Dynamic steady structures, resembling quasi-2D colloidal crystals, were achieved via oscillating boundaries.
- In-plane structures were tunable by adjusting the charge ratio of ellipsoids and spheres.
- Perfect light confinement was observed in the dielectric binary photonic slab, forming optical bound states.
- Layer-by-layer ordered structures formed spontaneously in thicker layers due to active confinement.
Conclusions:
- Active confinement provides a novel route to achieve long-range ordered photonic crystals.
- The dynamic nature of active confinement significantly influences self-assembled structures and their optical functions.
- Tunable photonic slabs with enhanced light-matter interaction capabilities can be realized.
