Electro-responsivity in electrolyte-free and solution processed Bragg stacks. Issue 37 (4th September 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Moscardi, Liliana; Paternò, Giuseppe M.; Chiasera, Alessandro; Sorrentino, Roberto; Marangi, Fabio; Kriegel, Ilka; Lanzani, Guglielmo; Scotognella, Francesco
• Is Part Of: Journal of materials chemistry. Volume 8:Issue 37(2020)
• Page Start: 13019
• Page End: 13024
• Publication Date: 2020-09-04
• Subjects: Materials -- Periodicals; Chemistry, Analytic -- Periodicals; Optical materials -- Research -- Periodicals; Electronics -- Materials -- Research -- Periodicals; 543.0284
• DOI: 10.1039/d0tc02437f
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2050-7526

Abstract

Abstract : We show an electro-responsive 1D photonic crystal integrating electro-active plasmonic materials, whose dielectric function can be simply modulated by the application of an external bias. Abstract : Achieving an active manipulation of colours has huge implications in optoelectronics, as colour engineering can be exploited in a number of applications, ranging from display to lightning. In the last decade, the synergy of the highly pure colours of 1D photonic crystals, also known as Bragg stacks, with electro-tunable materials have been proposed as an interesting route to attain such a technologically relevant effect. However, recent works rely on the use of liquid electrolytes, which can pose issues in terms of chemical and environmental stability. Here, we report on the proof-of-concept of an electrolyte free and solution-processed electro-responsive Bragg stack. We integrate an electro-responsive plasmonic metal oxide, namely indium tin oxide, in a 1D photonic crystal structure made of alternating layers of ITO and TiO2 nanoparticles. In such a device, we observed a maximum of 23 nm blue-shift upon the application of an external bias (10 V). Our data suggest that electrochromism can be attained in all-solid state systems by combining a judicious selection of the constituent materials with device architecture optimisation.