Light propagation within colloidal crystal wire fabricated by a dewetting process.

We present a colloidal crystal wire composed of thousands of connected microspheres that is fabricated by a simple dewetting process utilizing a drain phenomenon, and we directly observe the light propagation within the wire by near-field scanning optical microscopy. The optical properties of propagation light suggest that the propagation mechanism was attributed mainly to nanojet-induced mode coupling for the straight propagation component and partly to whispering-gallery mode coupling within the colloidal crystal wire.