Photonic structures—giving rise to interference of light upon reflection from periodically structured dielectric media—can be found widely in nature as a simple means to robust and tunable coloration. We have studied the preparation of multilayer films from photo-crosslinkable polymers and found this approach to yield well-defined structural colors that can easily be tailored due to the ability to independently control the properties of each layer. However, the modest contrast in refractive index provided by common polymers means that many layers are required to achieve highly efficient reflection. Thus, the incorporation of high refractive-index inorganic nanoparticle species represents an attractive means to improve performance while simplifying fabrication. We describe the preparation and characterization of such nanocomposite sensors, and compare their behavior to those of all-polymer multilayers.

Responsive photonic multilayers from photo-crosslinkable polymers and nanocomposites

249th National Meeting (2015)

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