Colloids are small particles – generally smaller than a few micrometers – that can spontaneously self-assemble to form a regularly-spaced lattice. To expand the kind of optically active structures that can be made with colloids we are interested in nanometric patchy colloids, which are nearly spherical colloids that have small patches on their surfaces that can be coated with specific ligands. These act as glue and allows the patchy colloids to assemble into well-defined structures whose order/disorder degree can be accurately controlled.