Photo- and electroluminescence of sulfide and silicate phosphors embedded in synthetic opal

The sulfide (ZnS:Mn, ZnxCd1−xS:Mn, ZnxCd1−xS:Ag) and silicate (Zn2SiO4:Mn) phosphors were synthesized directly inside the pores of synthetic opal by chemical bath deposition. These composites are perfect three-dimensional photonic crystals, which produce effective photo- and electroluminescence at room temperature. The emission spectra are considerably modified by the photonic crystal structure to become anisotropic in accordance with the photonic band gap angular dispersion.