摘要: The relationships between material constructions and reflective spectrum
patterns are important properties of photonic crystals. One particular
interesting reflectance profile is a high-intensity and uniform three-peak
pattern with peak positions right located at the red, green, and blue (RGB,
three original colors) region. For ease of construction, a seek for using
one-dimensional photonic crystals to achieve RGB triple reflective bands is a
meaningful endeavor. Only very limited previous studies exist, all relying on
traditional periodic photonic crystals (PPCs) and of large thickness. The
underlying physical principles remain elusive, leaving the question of
thickness limit to achieve RGB bands unaddressed. Here, we present the first
detailed work to explore the thickness limit issue based on both theoretical
and experimental investigation. A set of heuristically derived design
principles are used to uncover that the break of translational symmetry, thus
introducing heterostructure photonic crystals (HPCs), is essential to reduce
the total optical path difference (OPD) to ~ 3200nm (the theoretical limit)
while still exhibiting high-quality RGB bands. A systematic experiment based on
a 12-layer heterostructure construction was performed and well confirmed the
theoretical predictions. The associated three-peak properties are successfully
used to realize quantum dot fluorescent enhancement phenomena. Furthermore, the
HPC exhibits unusually stability against solvent stimulus, in strong contrast
to typical behaviors reported in PPCs. Our work for the first time proposes and
verifies important rational rules for designing ultrathin HPCs toward RGB
reflective bands, and provides insights for a wider range of explorations of
light manipulation in photonic crystals.