Photonic crystal mirrors for high-resolving-power fabry perots

A Fabry-Perot cavity comprised of three-dimensional photonic crystal structures is disclosed. The self-assembly of purified and highly monodispersed microspheres is one approach to the successful operation of the device for creating highly ordered colloidal crystal coatings of high structural and optical quality. Such colloidal crystal film mirrors offer high reflection with low losses in the spectral window of the photonic band gap that permit Fabry-Perot resonators to be constructed with high resolving power, for example, greater than 1000 or sharp fringes that are spectrally narrower than 1.0 nm. The three-dimensional photonic crystals that constitute the Fabry-Perot invention are not restricted to any one fabrication method, and may include self-assembly of colloids, layer-by-layer lithographic construction, inversion, and laser holography. Such photonic crystal Fabry-Perot resonators offer the same benefits of high reflection and narrow spectral band responses available from the use of multi-layer dielectric coatings. However, the open structure of three-dimensional photonic crystal films affords the unique ability for external media to access the critical reflection layers and dramatically alter the Fabry-Perot spectrum, and provide means for crafting novel laser, sensor, and nonlinear optical devices. This open structure enables the penetration of gas and liquid substances, or entrainment of nano-particles or biological analytes in gases and liquids, to create subtle changes to the colloidal mirror responses that manifest in strong spectral responses in reflection and transmission of the collective Fabry Perot response.