Photopolymer Photonic Crystals: Lattice Fidelity, Refractive-Index Contrast, Defects and Spectral Response

Photopolymer photonic crystals translate three-dimensional lattice geometry and refractive-index contrast into stop bands, structural colour and defect-mediated optical states. This review treats lattice fidelity, defect population, refractive state and spectral response as coupled manufacturing measurands. Recent reviews describe additive routes to photonic-crystal architectures and place two-photon and vat-photopolymer techniques within the broader optical-fabrication landscape. The central qualification problem is to distinguish spectral shifts caused by lattice constant or fill fraction from those caused by refractive-index change, disorder or intended defects. A practical framework is proposed using dimensional mapping over the printed volume, refractive-index/dispersion measurement, defect inspection and angle-resolved or transmission/reflection spectroscopy. Structural colour or a single stop-band image is not treated as sufficient evidence because different combinations of geometry and material state can produce similar spectral signatures.

ER-338 · Version 0.4.