Plasma-Chemical Etching of Colloidal Photonic Crystal Polystyrene Films

Colloidal photonic crystal film structures are a promising material for nanoengineering. The packing density of colloidal microspheres is one of the main characteristics of the structure of such films. By varying it, one can change the parameters of the photonic band gap of the film and the inverse structure formed on its basis, as well as the shape and size of nanoparticles obtained in the process of microsphere lithography. The most technologically advanced way to obtain a structure with a given packing density of microspheres is plasma-chemical etching of finished close-packed colloidal films. The object of study in this work is monolayer photonic crystal structures based on polystyrene microspheres obtained by vertical deposition. The results of experimental studies of the influence of the characteristics of the plasma treatment process on the parameters of the colloidal structure are shown.