Photoswitching properties of photonic band gap material containing azo-polymer liquid crystal

Seiji Kurihara, Masaki Moritsugu, Shoichi Kubo, Sun nam Kim, Tomonari Ogata, Takamasa Nonaka, Osamu Sato

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

19 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

A photochemically tunable photonic crystal was prepared by infiltration of the polymer liquid crystal (LC) having azo-chromophores in a SiO2 inverse opal structure. The SiO2 inverse opal film infiltrated with the polymer LC reflected a light corresponding to the periodicity as well as the refractive indices of the inverse opal structure. Linearly polarized light irradiation caused the shift of the reflection band to longer wavelength more than 15 nm. This is caused by the formation of uniaxially anisotropic molecular orientation of the polymer LC. The switched state was stable under interior light, and reversible switching of the reflection band can be achieved by the linearly and circularly polarized light irradiation. This photoswitching property will be suitable not only for various optical materials, but also for introduction of defects in the photonic crystals.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)4951-4960
Number of pages10
JournalEuropean Polymer Journal
Volume43
Issue number12
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Dec 2007

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Physics and Astronomy(all)
  • Organic Chemistry
  • Polymers and Plastics
  • Materials Chemistry

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