Silicon onion-layer periodic three dimensional nanostructures

The undeniable advantages offered by polymer opals (and other polymeric structures) in terms of quality and ease of production have triggered the search for methods to overcome certain difficulties inherent to organic matter. One example is the infiltration of polymeric self-assembled microstructures with silicon. A combination of silica and silicon CVD processes permits the building up of silicon multilayered 3D structures with photonic crystal optical response.