Retinal-protein complexes as optoelectronic components

Naturally occurring retinal-protein complexes (RPCs) have recently received much attention with regard to their potential use as light-sensitive elements for optical recording. The best-known RPC is bacteriorhodopsin (BR), a photosensitive protein from the membrane of extreme halophilic bacteria, which has been studied in great detail. The remarkably robust nature of BR, coupled with its ability to reversibly change color upon illumination and its high cyclicity of ground-to-photoinduced state transitions, makes BR a promising material for optical information processing.