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Tilted pillars on wrinkled elastomers as a reversibly tunable optical window
Elaine Lee1, Milin Zhang, Yigil Cho
1Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Pennsylvania, 3231 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA.
Advanced Materials (Deerfield Beach, Fla.)
|April 9, 2014
Summary
Researchers created a novel optical window using wrinkled poly(dimethylsiloxane) with tilted micropillars. This switchable window can reversibly change from opaque to transparent with stretching, offering repeatable optical modulation.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Optics
- Polymer Science
Background:
- Elastomeric materials offer tunable properties through mechanical deformation.
- Optical windows with controllable transparency are desirable for various applications.
- Wrinkled surfaces can exhibit unique optical phenomena.
Purpose of the Study:
- To design and fabricate a reversibly switchable optical window.
- To investigate the optical properties of tilted micropillar arrays on wrinkled poly(dimethylsiloxane).
- To demonstrate the repeatable and reversible optical modulation of the fabricated device.
Main Methods:
- Fabrication of tilted micropillar arrays on wrinkled elastomeric poly(dimethylsiloxane) films.
- Mechanical stretching of the films to induce changes in optical properties.
- Characterization of transmittance and color changes upon stretching.
Main Results:
- The as-prepared film was opaque with grating colors.
- Re-stretching to the original pre-strain restored grating color and ~30% transmittance.
- Stretching beyond the pre-strain increased film transparency.
- The optical switching process was fully reversible and repeatable over multiple cycles.
Conclusions:
- Tilted micropillar arrays on wrinkled poly(dimethylsiloxane) can function as a reversibly switchable optical window.
- Mechanical strain provides a mechanism for tunable optical transmittance and color.
- The developed material demonstrates potential for applications requiring dynamic optical control.
