Dynamically Tunable Structural Colors Enabled by Pixelated Programming of Soft Materials on Thickness

摘要

Structural colors are widespread in nature and have become an importantcomponent of the lives. Considerable efforts have been made towardreversible color tuning, which underpins intriguing applications, includingcolor displays, anti-counterfeiting, and information encryption. However, thelimited size, complicated fabrication processes, and low modulation speeds ofstructural colors are the main obstacles to their further development. Herein,a facile method to realize dynamically tunable structural colors is presented,which are enabled by the pixelated programming of soft materials onthickness. Pixelated photoresist microarrays with different heights areobtained using a digitalized lithography technique, enabling delicate controlover the thickness of the liquid crystal (LC) layers. Stimuli-responsive LCsendow structural colors with dynamic and reversible tunability and exhibitremarkable switching speeds with external stimuli. The proposed strategysheds new light on dynamically tunable structural colors and promotes thedevelopment of optical anti-counterfeiting, thermal sensors, and advancedinformation encryption.