Issue 1, 2019

All-optical switching in dye-doped DNA nanofibers

Abstract

All-optical switches are introduced which are based on deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) in the form of electrospun fibers, where DNA is semi-intercalated with a push–pull, luminescent nonlinear pyrazoline derivative. Optical birefringence is found in the organic nanofibers, with fully reversible switching controlled through continuous-wave laser irradiation. The photoinduced signal is remarkably large, with birefringence highlighted by optically-driven refractive index anisotropy approaching 0.001. Sub-millisecond characteristic switching times are found. Integrating dye-intercalated DNA complex systems in organic nanofibers, as a convenient and efficient approach to template molecular organization and control it by external stimuli, might open new routes for realizing optical logic gates, reconfigurable photonic networks and sensors through physically-transient biopolymer components.

Graphical abstract: All-optical switching in dye-doped DNA nanofibers

  • This article is part of the themed collection: Photonics

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
15 Sep 2018
Accepted
09 Nov 2018
First published
11 Dec 2018
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY-NC license

J. Mater. Chem. C, 2019,7, 170-176

All-optical switching in dye-doped DNA nanofibers

A. Szukalski, M. Moffa, A. Camposeo, D. Pisignano and J. Mysliwiec, J. Mater. Chem. C, 2019, 7, 170 DOI: 10.1039/C8TC04677H

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