Hybrid Colloidal Plasmonic-Photonic Crystals

• Published in: Advanced materials (Weinheim) Vol. 23; no. 22-23; pp. 2515 - 2533
• Main Authors: Romanov, Sergei G., Korovin, Alexander V., Regensburger, Alois, Peschel, Ulf
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Weinheim WILEY-VCH Verlag 17-06-2011; WILEY‐VCH Verlag
• Subjects: colloids; Colloids - chemistry; Crystallization; hybrid materials; metals; Metals - chemistry; Models, Molecular; Optics and Photonics; photonic crystals; Surface Plasmon Resonance
• ISSN: 0935-9648; 1521-4095
• DOI: 10.1002/adma.201100460

We review the recently emerged class of hybrid metal‐dielectric colloidal photonic crystals. The hybrid approach is understood as the combination of a dielectric photonic crystal with a continuous metal film. It allows to achieve a strong modification of the optical properties of photonic crystals by involving the light scattering at electronic excitations in the metal component into moulding of the light flow in series to the diffraction resonances occurring in the body of the photonic crystal. We consider different realizations of hybrid plasmonic‐photonic crystals based on two‐ and three‐dimensional colloidal photonic crystals in association with flat and corrugated metal films. In agreement with model calculations, different resonance phenomena determine the optical response of hybrid crystals leading to a broadly tuneable functionality of these crystals.
In hybrid plasmonic‐photonic crystals the metal and the dielectric components are spatially separated in order to preserve their individual properties, but they are positioned in close vicinity to each other to warrant their efficient interaction. This design approach extends the functionality of hybrid crystals by relaying on different resonance mechanisms in light transfer and ensures wide tuneability of the hybrid's optical properties.