Dye-polymer-opal composites as photonic crystals

We have fabricated a polymeric photonic crystal by impregnating an opal wit h a Coumarin 6 dye containing polymer which was subsequently polymerised in side the opal to form a dye-polymeropal composite. A strong spectral redist ribution of the luminescence properties of the composite has been found by angle resolved photoluminescence measurements. The emission spectrum shows a marked distortion compared with a dye-polymer reference sample, which cha nges with the rotation of the crystal due to the angular dispersion of the stop band. At the maximum of the dye-emission band a strong directionality of the photoluminescence recorded from the back surface was found.