Photonic Structures: New Technique Creates Patterns in Unique Crystals Formed from Hydrogel Nanoparticles

摘要

Researchers have developed a laser-based technique for creating patterns in self-assembled colloidal crystals produced from hydrogel nanoparticles - soft spheres that respond to heat by changing size. The development could make possible the fabrication of waveguides, three-dimensional microlenses and other photonic structures from the unusual crystals. In related work, the Georgia Institute of Technology researchers have also learned to use weak attractive forces between the soft spheres to produce uniform crystalline structures with particle concentrations much lower than possible with hard spheres. The developments were described at the 226th national meeting of the American Chemical Society in New York.