All-optical logic circuits based on photochromic building blocks using waveguide structures

开发一种在光子而不是电子上运行的信号转导装置的挑战需要具有高光化学/光物理稳定性、高抗疲劳性、快速响应和热不可逆双稳态以及光输入/输出信号级联的材料。所有这些特性需要结合在一个单一的系统中，这构成了迄今为止全光逻辑电路的主要瓶颈。因此，本项目的主要目标是设计、合成/组装和光谱表征/量化全光逻辑门（与、或、或非、与非等）。基于高度光稳定的可光转换的二元组、三元组、共混物和侧基聚合物，所述侧基聚合物携带不同取代的萘嵌苯染料和基于二噻吩基全氟环戊烯（DCP）的可光转换分子。这些新的系统提供了一个平台，用于实现电子世界中众所周知的功能，但光子取代了电子的作用。这需要染料和光开关分子及其组合的集合的相互激发/发射能量的适应，这要求化学和物理之间的跨学科研究方法。基于我们在光开关系统方面深入合作的经验，我们希望专注于全光逻辑门的基础研究。该项目的实现基于化学部分，旨在合成涉及DCP及其发射对应物DCP-O 4的各种光开关系统，使用1H-NMR，MALDI-ToF MS，UV-VIS吸收，TGA和DSC以及循环伏安法对其进行基本表征，并将合成系统纳入适用于光谱学的薄膜中。物理部分，旨在组装和光谱表征所有的积木和全光门。这包括线性UV-VIS和时间分辨光谱，用于阐明容纳染料和光电开关组合的膜中的能量转移动力学。基于这些结果，优化的染料开关组合将被选择用于实现使用波导结构的全光逻辑门。这个跨学科项目的两个部分是相互交织的，并带来了这个项目的成功所需的互补技能。

The challenge to develop a device for signal transduction that runs on photons rather than on electrons requires materials that feature a high photochemical/photophysical stability, high fatigue resistance, a rapid response, and a thermally irreversible bistability as well as concatenation of optical input/output signals. All these properties need to be combined in one single system, which constitutes the main bottleneck towards all-optical logic circuits to date. Therefore, the main aim of the current project is to design, synthesize/assemble and spectroscopically characterize/quantify all-optical logic gates (AND, OR, NOR, NAND etc.) based on highly photostable photoswitchable dyads, triads, blends, and pendant polymers carrying differently substituted rylene dyes and photoswitchable molecules based on dithienylperfluorocyclopentenes (DCP) in thin films. These novel systems provide a platform for realising functions that are well known in the electronic world, yet where photons take over the role of the electrons. This requires adaptation of mutual excitation/emission energies of a collection of dyes and photoswitchable molecules and combinations thereof, which asks for an interdisciplinary research approach between chemistry and physics. Based on the experiences of our intensive joint work on photoswitchable systems, here we want to focus on fundamental studies towards all-optical logical gates. The realisation of this project is based on a chemistry part aimed at the synthesis of diverse photoswitchable systems involving both DCP and its emitting counterpart DCP-O4, their basic characterization using 1H-NMR, MALDI-ToF MS, UV-VIS absorption, TGA and DSC as well as cyclic voltammetry and the incorporation of the synthesized systems into films suitable for optical spectroscopy. The physics part, aims at assembling and spectroscopically characterizing all building blocks and the all-optical gates. This includes linear UV-VIS, and time-resolved spectroscopies for elucidating the energy transfer dynamics in films that accommodate combinations of dyes and photoswitches. Based on these results, optimized dye-switch combinations will be selected for realising all-optical logic gates using waveguide structures. Both parts of this interdisciplinary project are interwoven and bring in complementary skills required for the success of this project.