Defect Engineering in Self-Assembled 3D Photonic Crystals

This work describes the combination of photolithography and self-assembly methods for fabrication of 3D photonic crystals (PCs) with well-defined micron-scale line defects embedded in the PCs. Line defects with different dimensions, shapes, and compositions have been introduced into the 3D PCs by choosing different photoresists, masks, and template-directed assembly techniques. Infiltration of carbon using high-temperature chemical vapor deposition (CVD) technique showed that the fabrication procedure offers an ideal approach to functional 3D photonic devices from self-assembled photonic crystals.