Photoluminescence of ZnS : Mn embedded in three-dimensional photonic crystals of submicron polymer spheres

ZnS:Mn has been in-filled in photonic crystals of submicron polymer spheres . The effect of the photonic band gap on the photoluminescence (PL) propert ies of ZnS:Mn has been investigated. Because of the overlap of the transmis sion dip of the photonic crystal and the photoluminescence band of ZnS:Mn, both suppression and enhancement in the PL of the phosphor have been observ ed. A strong dependence of the fluorescence lifetime on the emission wavele ngth in the range of the stop band has been found. This strong dependence i s believed to arise from the very low photon density of state within the st op band of the ZnS:Mn in-filled photonic crystal as result of a high dielec tric contrast between ZnS:Mn and the polystyrene spheres. (C) 2000 American Institute of Physics. [S0003-6951(00)02024-6].