Sol-gel coassembly of macroporous cylinders cladded optical fibers

•We develop a novel sol–gel cooperatively assembly method.•3D microstructure fibers can be fabricated in a single step by sol–gel co-assembly.•Cylindrical inverse opals cladded optical fibers show face-centered cubic structure.•SEM images of transverse and longitudinal cross section are observed.•Transmission spectra show deep photonic band gaps up to 50%.