摘要： We fabricated the first solid, mechanically robust inverse opal photonic crystals that diffract in the deep ultraviolet (UV) spectral region. These photonic crystals are fabricated by self-assembling <140 nm diameter monodisperse polystyrene nanoparticles into face centered cubic 3D close-packed structures on fused silica microscope slides in the presence of tetraethyl orthosilicate via a vertical deposition method. Tetraethyl orthosilicate condenses in the nanoparticle interstices during self-assembly, immobilizing the polystyrene nanoparticles in a SiO2 matrix. Removal of the polystyrene nanoparticles using Piranha solution yields a stable SiO2 inverse opal structure that Bragg diffracts in the deep UV at <245 nm. We measured the UV-Vis transmission, diffraction of a collimated deep UV white light source, and diffraction of 229 nm laser light in order to characterize the deep UV optical performance of these photonic crystals. We measured a maximum light attenuation of ~98% at the Bragg condition, calculated a photonic crystal thickness of ~33 layers, and calculated a diffraction spectral bandwidth of 16.8 nm full-width at half maximum. The mechanical robustness, photochemical durability, and shelf-life of the deep UV diffracting photonic crystals demonstrated in this work enables their development for use as deep UV optical devices. We conclude that additional optimization of the self-assembly and vertical deposition conditions is required to improve the thickness uniformity and ordering of these photonic crystals to increase their diffraction efficiency and to decrease their diffraction bandwidth.