Entirely Reversible Photochromic Glass with High Coloration and Luminescence Contrast for 3D Optical Storage

Abstract

Transparent glass with photochromism and luminescence has emerged as an attractive material due to its exciting prospects in the fields of information encryption and 3D optical storage. However, thermal stimulation has usually been used to bleach photochromic glass, limiting its applications. Herein, a new entirely photostimulation-induced reversible photochromic glass, doped with lanthanide ions and silver chloride (RE-Ag glass), was explored. Under the alternating stimulation of 365 nm light and a 690 nm laser, reversible photochromism (ΔR t = 91%) from transparent to black and luminescence modification (ΔR m = 93%) with high fatigue resistance were achieved in the RE-Ag glass. This is attributed to the formation and decomposition of silver nanoparticles in the glass host. The optical information can be recorded and erased in the RE-Ag glass with good rewritability and re-erasability, realizing a double-model 3D optical storage. The result highlights a new strategy to explore an entirely photostimulation induced photochromic glass with luminescence for 3D optical storage applications.

The making and breaking of perovskite photochromism through doping

“…3c). According to previous reports, 12,[31][32][33] the valence transition of silver from Ag + to Ag 0 was responsible for the photochromism of glass. We speculated a similar mechanism since the heavy doping of Na ions diluted the Ag + concentration in the lattice (Table S1 †), and reduced the coloration.…”

“…2c). The transmittance-contrast degree (ΔR t ) could be calculated by using the following equation: 12,26…”

“…[9][10][11] In particular, photochromic glass could be completely recovered after many coloration-decoloration cycles, which has inspired the design of a compact platform for optical storage. 12 To achieve a maximum contrast, a high transparency is required for photochromic compounds. Unlike the ceramics with severe scattering issues, glass-based matrices exhibited a high transmittance in the visible region and has become a major focus recently.…”

“…Zhao et al reported a transparent glass with a co-doping content of both silver and rare earth ions. 12 Under light illumination at an appropriate wavelength, both the coloration and decoloration processes could be promptly achieved in 30 s. Despite these advances in glass matrix, the fabrication of glass ceramics involved a tedious calcination process, where a high energy input was required to sustain a high temperature of over 1300 °C. In stark contrast, low-temperature synthesis of inorganic photochromic materials has emerged recently based on a new crystalline host of halide perovskites.…”

Triphenylamine, Carbazole or Tetraphenylethylene-Functionalized Benzothiadiazole Derivatives: Aggregation-Induced Emission (AIE), Solvatochromic and Different Mechanoresponsive Fluorescence Characteristics

“…Organic materials with high-brightness, solid-state emission characteristics have attracted much attention due to their application prospects in mechanical sensors, deformation detectors, security systems, memory devices, data storage, fluorescent probes, and various optoelectronic devices [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 ]. In the past decade, smart materials have aroused extensive research enthusiasm in the fields of mechanical sensors, organic light-emitting diodes, and optical storage [ 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 ]. In recent years, several strategies have been used to dynamically modulate fluorescence emissions [ 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 ].…”