Two-substrate vertical deposition for stable colloidal crystal chips

By combining vertical deposition with micromolding in capillaries method, we have demonstrated the two-substrate vertical deposition, an alternative and versatile procedure for fabricating high-quality stable colloidal crystal chips. Apparent bright colors, special UV-vis spectra, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) images all prove that high-quality colloidal crystal structures are formed in between the two substrates.During the two-substrate vertical deposition for colloidal crystal chips, capillary force and evaporation of the medium are critical to the formation of the colloidal crystals; while the confinement in between two close substrates makes the resulting colloidal crystal chips more stable. Due to the excellent stability, these colloidal crystal chips can be used to construct some composite optical devices via a simpler and more flexible process. Meanwhile, they can also be further used as the templates for ordered multiporous materials.

Two-substrate vertical deposition for stable colloidal crystal chips

By combining vertical deposition with micro- molding in capillaries method, we have demonstrated the two-substrate vertical deposition, an alternative and versatile procedure for fabricating high-quality stable colloidal crystal chips. Apparent bright colors, special UV-vis spectra, scan- ning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force micros- copy (AFM) images all prove that high-quality colloidal crystal structures are formed in between the two substrates. During the two-substrate vertical deposition for colloidal crystal chips, capillary force and evaporation of the medium are critical to the formation of the colloidal crystals; while the confinement in between two close substrates makes the resulting colloidal crystal chips more stable. Due to the ex- cellent stability, these colloidal crystal chips can be used to construct some composite optical devices via a simpler and more flexible process. Meanwhile, they can also be further used as the templates for ordered multiporous materials.