An Atmospherically Driven Optical Switch

✍ Scribed by James J. La Clair

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1999
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 102 KB
• Volume: 38
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0044-8249
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1521-3773(19991018)38:20<3045::aid-anie3045>3.0.co;2-r

✦ Synopsis

An effective switch translates an external force through components of minimal complexity into a signal that regulates a desired output. A series of macromolecular switches have now been constructed that can be initiated by chemical, electrochemical, photochemical, or thermal stimuli. [1] Recent attention now focuses on adapting these materials into machines or electronic components. A new device is presented that translates a change in the atmosphere into an electrical output though a photophysical change within a small group of molecules.

Here, a change is defined in units of molecules and measured by monitoring the viability of twisted intramolec-