'Tall' Crystals from Tiny Templates

Ames Laboratory News Release, 21 Jul 2005 Achieving a first in the world of novel optical materials, researchers at the U. S. Department of Energy's Ames Laboratory are making 3-D photonic band gap crystals four millimeters square and 12 layers high without benefit of a "clean room" environment or the multimillion dollar equipment traditionally required to create such structures. The fundamental research, supported by the Basic Energy Sciences Office of the DOE's Office of Science, holds potential for significantly reducing the costs associated with fabricating PBG crystals, devices that make it possible to route, manipulate and modify the properties of light. Read more