Tunable electro-optic photonic crystals fabricated through template directed multi-layer atomic layer deposition

We present experimental and theoretical investigations of tunable large-pore inverse opals fabricated by combining conformal films in patterned template structures with infiltrated liquid crystals. Ultra-conformal films allow opal templates to be inverted and used as scaffolding for fabricating a large-pore dielectric backbone that serves as a patterned template for electro-optic/non-linear or conventional materials. Additionally, theoretical results of tunable nonclose-packed inverse opals fabricated by a multi-layer atomic layer deposition process and infiltrated with lead lanthanum zirconium titanate are presented. The structural properties of the device are defined by the template, while the dynamic properties are controlled independently by the choice of electro-optic/non-linear material. A variety of dielectric templates were modeled by choosing conformal coatings to define structures that exhibit either large Bragg peak tunability or width. The dynamic optical properties of the tuned large-pore and non-close-packed inverse opals are discussed and a model is presented for characterizing the controlled fabrication of optimized photonic crystal structures using multi-component conformal film deposition. Experimental measurements and modeling both indicate enhanced static and dynamic tunability to the photonic properties of infiltrated inverse templates compared to typical tunable opal-based inverse structures.