"Smart" Photonic Crystals

"Smart" Photonic Crystals

Photonic crystals (PCs) are an ubiquitous source of structural color in nature and promising building blocks for all-optical integrated circuits and filters guiding the propagation of light. In parallel, PCs have emerged as versatile optical sensors that can be operated in a label-free optical fashion, which is an asset e.g. in healthcare or environmental monitoring. Our research draws on the bio-inspired design of multidimensional photonic nanostructures and aims at realizing stimuli-responsive color sensors. By fine-tuning the chemical, structural and morphological properties of PCs, for example by intercalation of analytes or the inclusion of controlled defects, versatile sensing platforms can be designed and adapted to various sensing environments. Along these lines, we develop ”smart“ photonic crystals using a wide scope of inherently functional materials such as swellable 2D layered materials or metal-organic frameworks, in order to create customizable and transferable miniature optical sensors translating material response into color read-out.

© Image courtesy of Dr. Alberto Jiménez-Solano (Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research)

 

Key Publications

Transfer of 1D Photonic Crystals via spatially resolved Hydrophobization
M. Däntl, S. Guderley, K. Szendrei-Temesi, D. Chatzitheodoridou, P. Ganter, A. Jiménez-Solano, B.V. Lotsch
Small 2021, 17, 2007864. Article

Customizing H3Sb3P2O14 Nanosheet Sensors by Reversible Vapor-Phase Amine Intercalation
M. Däntl, P. Ganter, K. Szendrei-Temesi, A. Jiménez-Solano, B.V. Lotsch
Nanoscale Horiz. 2020, 5, 74–81. Article

Tracking molecular diffusion in one-dimensional Photonic Crystals
K. Szendrei-Temesi, A. Jiménez-Solano, B.V. Lotsch
Adv. Mater. 2018, 30, 1803730. Article

Fluorescent humidity sensors based on photonic resonators
K. Szendrei, A. Jiménez-Solano, G. Lozano, B.V. Lotsch, H. Míguez
Adv. Opt. Mater. 2017, 5, 1700663. Article

Towards the nanosheet-based photonic nose: Vapor recognition and trace water sensing with antimony phosphate thin film devices
P. Ganter, K. Szendrei, B.V. Lotsch
Adv. Mater. 2016, 28, 7436–7442. Article

Touchless optical finger motion tracking based on 2D nanosheets with giant moisture responsiveness
K. Szendrei, P. Ganter, O. Sánchez-Sobrado, R. Eger, A. Kuhn, B.V. Lotsch
Adv. Mater. 2015, 27, 6341–6348. Article

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