Multilayer mirrored bubbles with spatially-chirped and elastically-tuneable optical bandgaps

Opt Express. 2012 Mar 12;20(6):6421-8. doi: 10.1364/OE.20.006421.

Abstract

We demonstrate the multifolding Origami manufacture of elastically-deformable Distributed Bragg Reflector (DBR) membranes that reversibly color-tune across the full visible spectrum without compromising their peak reflectance. Multilayer films composed of alternating transparent rubbers are fixed over a 300 μm wide pinhole and deformed by pressure into a concave shape. Pressure-induced color tuning from the near-IR to the blue arises from both changes in thickness of the constituent layers and from tilting of the curved DBR surfaces. The layer thickness and color distribution upon deformation, the band-gap variation and the repeatability of cyclic color tuning, are mapped through micro-spectroscopy. Such spatially-dependent thinning of the film under elastic deformation produces spatial chirps in the color, and are shown to allow reconstruction of complex 3D strain distributions.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Color
  • Colorimetry / instrumentation*
  • Computer-Aided Design
  • Elastic Modulus
  • Equipment Design
  • Equipment Failure Analysis
  • Lenses*
  • Membranes, Artificial*
  • Microbubbles
  • Refractometry / instrumentation*
  • Stress, Mechanical

Substances

  • Membranes, Artificial