Optical characterization of colloidal crystals based on dissymmetric metal-coated oxide submicrospheres

We studied the optical properties of a two-dimensional (2D) photonic crystal monolayer made up of silica submicrospheres, partly covered by a metallic coating. The silica particles, synthesized by the Stöber method, had a diameter of about 300 nm, with little size dispersion. They were deposited on glass in a hexagonal pattern by the Langmuir-Blodgett process. The resulting film consisted of a single monolayer of particles. The final step of sample preparation consisted of depositing a discontinuous gold layer on top of the 2D crystal. In order to evaluate the effects of small compositional and structural changes on the optical properties of the 2D crystal, the gold layer was applied to a thickness of less than 2 nm. Anisotropy in the metallic coating was induced by tilting the deposition angle by 10° from the vertical: a discontinuous layer was obtained on top of the particles, with elongated shapes pointing towards the source of the evaporation. The shape of the particles and the film structure were characterized by scanning electron microscopy. Ellipsometric measurements were performed in transmission mode in order to assess the sample anisotropy, and the plasmon response of the samples was determined by extinction measurements. The original 2D crystal presented unexpected optical and uniaxial anisotropy which was increased by a factor of 2 after gold coating.