Colloidal photonic crystals were fabricated using polystyrene particles (180 nm) and PMMA particles (450 nm), respectively, with a new and simple self-assembly method without special equipment. SEM images indicate that the prepared samples have ordered structures with few defects. The position of the stop-band scale nicely agrees with the particles' size. The sintering process of the PS photonic crystal film was studied with AFM heating system. (c) 2005 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.