Programmable Jigsaw Puzzles of Soft Materials Enabled by Pixelated Holographic Surface Reliefs

Yifei Wang; Cong-Long Yuan; Wenbin Huang; Pei-Zhi Sun; Binghui Liu; Hong-Long Hu; Zhigang Zheng; Yan-Qing Lu; Quan Li

doi:10.1002/adma.202211521

Programmable Jigsaw Puzzles of Soft Materials Enabled by Pixelated Holographic Surface Reliefs

Adv Mater. 2023 Mar;35(13):e2211521. doi: 10.1002/adma.202211521. Epub 2023 Feb 17.

Authors

Yifei Wang^{1

2}, Cong-Long Yuan^{1

2}, Wenbin Huang³, Pei-Zhi Sun^{1

2}, Binghui Liu^{1

2}, Hong-Long Hu⁴, Zhigang Zheng¹, Yan-Qing Lu⁵, Quan Li^{6

7}

Affiliations

¹ School of Physics, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai, 200237, China.
² School of Materials Science and Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai, 200237, China.
³ School of Optoelectronic Science and Engineering and Collaborative Innovation Center of Suzhou Nano Science and Technology, Soochow University, Suzhou, 215006, China.
⁴ School of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai, 200237, China.
⁵ National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures, Key Laboratory of Intelligent Optical Sensing and Manipulation, Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures and College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210093, China.
⁶ Institute of Advanced Materials and School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Nanjing, 211189, China.
⁷ Advanced Materials and Liquid Crystal Institute and Materials Science Graduate Program, Kent State University, Kent, OH, 44242, USA.

PMID: 36744552
DOI: 10.1002/adma.202211521

Abstract

Manual intervention in the self-organization of soft matter to obtain a desired superstructure is a complex but significant project. Specifically, optical components made fully or partially from reconfigurable and stimuli-responsive soft materials, referred to as soft photonics, are poised to form versatile platforms in various areas; however, a limited scale, narrow spectral adaptability, and poor stability are still formidable challenges. Herein, a facile way is developed to program the optical jigsaw puzzle of nematic liquid crystals via pixelated holographic surface reliefs, leading to an era of manufacturing for programmable soft materials with tailored functions. Multiscale jigsaw puzzles are established and endowed with unprecedented stability and durability, further sketching a prospective framework toward customized adaptive photonic architectures. This work demonstrates a reliable and efficient approach for directly assembling soft matter, unlocking the long-sought full potential of stimuli-responsive soft systems, and providing opportunities to inspire the next generation of soft photonics and relevant areas.

Keywords: jigsaw puzzles; liquid crystals; planar optics; soft materials; stability.

Abstract

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