A facile fabrication strategy for anisotropic photonic crystals using deformable spherical nanoparticles.

A 2D anisotropic photonic crystal (APC) of bowl-shaped nanoparticles has been fabricated using deformable spherical nanoparticles. The prepared 2D isotropic photonic crystal (IPC) of spherical nanoparticles is transformed into a 2D APC by a chemical etching process, in which the interiors of the spherical nanoparticles are preferentially dissolved to eventually form a bowl-like morphology. Due to the accurate and controllable deformability of the spherical nanoparticles, the arrangement and orientations of the bowl-shaped nanoparticles are highly ordered and uniform. The morphology, optical properties and surface wettability of the 2D APC are all distinct from those of the prepared 2D IPC. This facile strategy provides an easy and low-cost way to fabricate highly ordered and uniform APCs.