Growth of 3D photonic crystals by photolysis of CrO@@d2@Cl@@d2@

• Published in: Journal of crystal growth Vol. 311; no. 8; pp. 2590 - 2596
• Main Authors: Salauen, M, Audier, M, Delyon, F, Duneau, M
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 01.04.2009
• ISSN: 0022-0248
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jcrysgro.2009.02.008

A method of three-dimensional (3D) holography is used for the growth of photonic crystals of sub-micron cell parameters by gas decomposition in a 3D interference field of UV laser light. Either amorphous or crystalline chromium oxides are obtained by photolysis of chromyl chloride CrO@@d2@Cl@@d2@ for different experimental conditions. The most interesting product is obtained for a photolysis of CrO@@d2@Cl@@d2@ at low pressure, on a cooled TiO@@d2@ single-crystal substrate and for a higher beam energy. The growth begins with the formation of epitaxial CrO@@d2@ metastable phase which is partly transformed into Cr@@d2@O@@d3@ under UV irradiation. Due to crystallographic orientational relationships between CrO@@d2@ and Cr@@d2@O@@d3@, the growth of a well organized 3D photonic crystal of Cr@@d2@O@@d3@ phase goes on according to the 3D periodic modulations of electromagnetic energy of the interference field. In the present case, the Cr@@d2@O@@d3@ phase exhibits four sets of equivalent crystallographic orientations with respect to the single-crystal substrate. From such a result, one can expect to produce in a further work photonic crystals constituted of single-crystalline Cr@@d2@O@@d3@ phase in epitaxy onto a Cr@@d2@O@@d3@ or sapphire Al@@d2@O@@d3@ substrate.