Automation of the Opal Colloidal Films Obtaining Processes

摘要

This paper describes an equipment for the automated deposition of photonic crystal opal colloidal films. Due to its unique properties opal films and opal based structures have attracted great attention in the wide range of applications such as photonics, electronics and optoelectronics, laser techniques, plasmonics, quantum computing, medicine, civil engineering and solar energy devices. We present the equipment that combines two methods of opal films formation - a vertical deposition and an electrophoresis. The equipment consists of five main modules: a power supply unit, a mode setting module and a process time reference, a display and indication module, an electrophoresis module and vertical deposition module. Since deposition process is well controlled the device may be used for optimizing process conditions and obtaining necessary films' structures properties the results of an atomic force microscopy investigation of deposited colloidal films show that for silica particles success has already been achieved by using automated device. The atomic force microscopy images indicated that the structure of colloidal films is highly periodic.