Fabrication and characterisation of SbI3-opal structures

• Simple and low cost method of fabricating SbI3-opal structure has been presented.
• SEM, EDS and optical studies have been performed.
• Large red-shift of the Bragg׳s peak for SbI3-opal structure has appeared.

This work is focused on forming opal-antimony triiodide (SbI3) structures with direct SiO2 opal. SbI3 is a semiconductor having relatively high refractive index so potentially is very useful in fabrication of photonic crystal. Additionally, crystalline SbI3 exhibits the second-harmonic generation so obtained structures provide a wide range of opportunities for optoelectronic devices. Presented structures are fabricated by infiltration opal with SbI3 dissolved in ethanol and drying in room temperature. The morphology of the samples was characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The chemical composition of the samples was analyzed using energy dispersion spectroscopy (EDS). Optical properties were investigated by reflectance spectroscopy for wavelengths from 380 nm to 1050 nm.