ABSTRACT
Self-assembled structures in the form of articial opals are arguably the most widespread approach to the fabrication of three-dimensional (3D) photonic crystals (PhCs). As a matter of fact, such systems were already present in the 1987 seminal work of Yablonovitch1 as a probe system to study the optical properties of 3D PhCs. More than two decades after that initial proposal, articial opals have been thoroughly studied from both experimental and theoretical points of view. Their crystalline quality has been improved by exploring several fabrication methods, their optical response has been studied using a wide variety of experimental techniques, and many applications have been proposed for them such as chemical or biological sensors, components of dye sensitized solar cells or displays to name but a few.2
