Methods for improving the structural 3D ordering of self – assembled photonic crystal coatings obtained by electrophoresis deposition

Abstract The article describes the main properties of self – assembled colloidal photonic crystal coatings. A comparison of coating deposition methods is presented. Electrophoresis deposition method has gained great interest because of its possibility of conditions variation. The main factors affecting the quality of the colloidal opal films during electrophoresis deposition are studied. The results of experimental researches on increasing the ordering of photonic crystal coatings are presented. It was found that the voltage range of 0.7 - 2.7 V and pH of 7 allows one to obtain thick films with a pronounced PBG.