Fabrication of artificial opals by electric-field-assisted vertical deposition.
We present a new technique for large-scale fabrication of colloidal crystals with controllable quality and thickness. The method is based on vertical deposition in the presence of a DC electric field normal to the conducting substrate. The crystal structure and quality are quantitatively characterized by microradian X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and optical reflectometry. Attraction between the charged colloidal spheres and the substrate promotes growth of thicker crystalline films, while the best-quality crystals are formed in the presence of repulsion. Highly ordered thick crystalline layers with a small amount of stacking faults and a low mosaic spread can be obtained by optimizing the growth conditions.
Napolskii
Kirill S
KS
Department of Materials Science, Moscow State University, Leninskie Hills, 119991 Moscow, Russia. napolsky@inorg.chem.msu.ru
Sapoletova
Nina A
NA
Gorozhankin
Dmitriy F
DF
Eliseev
Andrey A
AA
Chernyshov
Dmitry Yu
DY
Byelov
Dmytro V
DV
Grigoryeva
Natalia A
NA
Mistonov
Alexander A
AA
Bouwman
Wim G
WG
Kvashnina
Kristina O
KO
Lukashin
Alexey V
AV
Snigirev
Anatoly A
AA
Vassilieva
Alexandra V
AV
Grigoriev
Sergey V
SV
Petukhov
Andrei V
AV