In order to achieve the high amount of index of refraction mismatch necessary for the fabrication of a photonic bandgap device, a highly ordered hybrid material of organic and inorganic compounds must be developed. Through the identification of peptides from the diatom Cylindrotheca fusiformis, simple silica nanospheres can now be synthesized from silanes under physiological conditions. By incorporating these peptides into a monomer formulation, peptide-rich regions can be created on the polymer surface using a holographic two-photon induced photopolymerization process. After exposing the cured polymer to a silane precursor, silica nanospheres are embedded in the peptide-rich regions resulting in a highly ordered two-dimensional array of silica spheres on the polymer backing. The diffraction efficiency of these devices increases nearly fifty-fold when compared to a polymer hologram without the silica spheres.
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