1 Chemistry and Physics of Condensed Matter, Ornstein Laboratory,
Debye Institute, Utrecht University, Princetonlaan 5, 3584 CC Utrecht,
The Netherlands0100,0100,0100
2 FOM Institute for Atomic and Molecular Physics, 1009 DB,
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
We report on photonic crystals made via self-assembling of high dielectric ZnS-core, low dielectric SiO2-shell colloidal particles. The core-shell morphology allows control over the filling fraction of the high dielectric material. To probe the local density of states ZnS core can be doped with manganese (luminescent core) or a fluorescent dye can be incorporated into the silica layer. The structure and optical properties of a single particle are studied by means of light scattering. We have performed exhaustive optical transmission measurements on thin planar crystals of colloidal particles grown on glass substrates. The relative L-stopgap in the case of core-shell particles with an optimized core-to-shell ratio is bigger in comparison to the case of a photonic crystal of homogeneous particles.