Color-Tunable Etalons Assembled from Poly (N-Isopropylacrylamide) Based Microgels

Photonic materials (PMs) that are capable of manipulating and controlling light in systems have immense potential for the computing and communications industries. These materials are formed by assembling components of differing refractive indices in a periodic array. Light then interacts with this assembly, which results in constructive and destructive interference, and hence color. While many three-dimensional PMs have been reported, and have the most potential for the applications mentioned above, one-dimensional PMs have a multitude of potential uses, e.g., light filtration. In this review, we focus on one-dimensional PMs; specifically poly (N-isopropylacrylamide) microgel based etalons. The etalons can be fabricated to exhibit a single bright color, and because the diameter of the microgels is dependent on temperature and pH, the mirror-mirror spacing can be dynamically tuned; therefore the etalon’s color is dynamically tunable.