Soft materials nanoarchitectonics: liquid crystals, polymers, gels, biomaterials, and others

• Katsuhiko Ariga

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2025, 16, 1025–1067, doi:10.3762/bjnano.16.77

• , and polymer motion via Marangoni flow. It is possible to extend this series of photoresponsive properties to other photochromic molecules and polymers. This methodology will be of interest for a variety of smart molecular system devices and smart applications. Plastic crystals are materials that

Optically and electrically driven nanoantennas

• Monika Fleischer,
• Dai Zhang and
• Alfred J. Meixner

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1542–1545, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.136

• ][51]. A recent example of the strong coupling between silver nanorods and photochromic molecules is demonstrated in [52]. Due to the high local field intensity in the gap of a nanodimer, strong polarization of the particle, and consequently, strong SHG from the particle surface, may be expected

Polarization-dependent strong coupling between silver nanorods and photochromic molecules

• Gwénaëlle Lamri,
• Alessandro Veltri,
• Jean Aubard,
• Pierre-Michel Adam,
• Nordin Felidj and
• Anne-Laure Baudrion

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 2657–2664, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.247

• resonance and the excited state of photochromic molecules. By varying the width and the length of the nanorods independently, a clear Rabi splitting appears in the dispersion curves of both resonators. Keywords: active plasmonics; photochromic molecules; plasmon; Rabi splitting; strong coupling

• change in the refractive index or the doping ability of these materials allows the plasmonic system’s environment to be actively changed and the plasmonic properties to be controlled. Another way to control LSPR is to use photochromic molecules. These molecules can switch their conformation from a

• macroscopic optical components, such as lenses [12] or sunglasses [13]. From the plasmonic perspective, the photochromic molecules can allow for the active control of the plasmonic resonance. The coupling between molecular exciton and plasmonic resonance can lead to weak [14] or strong coupling [15]. The

Inelastic electron tunneling spectroscopy of difurylethene-based photochromic single-molecule junctions

• Youngsang Kim,
• Safa G. Bahoosh,
• Dmytro Sysoiev,
• Thomas Huhn,
• Fabian Pauly and
• Elke Scheer

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 2606–2614, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.261

• properties of several species of photochromic molecules in single-molecule junctions with gold electrodes have been investigated extensively to understand the mechanisms of charge transport and optical switching [11][12][13][14][15][16]. Among the photochromic molecules, diarylethene derivatives are

Current–voltage characteristics of single-molecule diarylethene junctions measured with adjustable gold electrodes in solution

• Bernd M. Briechle,
• Youngsang Kim,
• Philipp Ehrenreich,
• Artur Erbe,
• Dmytro Sysoiev,
• Thomas Huhn,
• Ulrich Groth and
• Elke Scheer

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2012, 3, 798–808, doi:10.3762/bjnano.3.89

• interest are optically addressable molecules, the transport properties of which can repeatedly and reversibly be changed by irradiation with light pulses. An example of these photochromic molecules is given by the class of diarylethenes. They consist of a core containing an aromatic ring that can be

• electrode while the dominant transport level E0 remains mainly constant. For molecules that favor physisorption, both the coupling and the energy of the frontier orbital can be tuned. These findings are important for the further improvement of photochromic molecules in future molecular electronic devices

• ) forms of photochromic molecules (difurylethene); R indicates the extended side-arms and end-groups. (c) Structures of three different molecules, 4Py (black), TSC (red), MN (green) investigated in this study. Examples of I–V characteristics of open and closed isomers. (a) Open form of TSC, (b) closed