Structural colors are promising candidates for their antifading and eco-friendly characteristics. However, high cost and complicated processing inevitably hinder their development. Here, we propose a facile full-color structural-color inkjet printing strategy with a single transparent ink from the common polymer materials. This structural color arisen from total internal reflections is prepared by digitally printing the dome-shaped microstructure (microdome) with well-controlled morphology. By controlling the ink volume and substrate wettability, the microdome color can be continuously regulated across whole visible regions. The gamut, saturation, and lightness of the printed structural-color image are precisely adjusted via the programmable arrangement of different microdomes. With the advantages of simple manufacturing and widely available inks, this color printing approach presents great potential in imaging, decoration, sensing, and biocompatible photonics.
Bioinspired dynamic structural color has great potential for use in dynamic displays, sensors, cryptography, and camouflage. However, it is quite rare for artificial structural color devices to withstand thousands of cycles. Male hummingbird's crowns and gorgets are brightly colored, demonstrating frequent color switching that is induced by regulating the orientation of the feathers through movement of skin or joints. Inspired by this unique structural color modulation, we demonstrate a flexible, mechanically triggered color switchable sheet based on a photonic crystal (PhC)‐coated polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) kirigami (PhC‐PDMS kirigami) made by laser cutting. Finite element modeling (FEM) simulation reveals that the thickness of PDMS kirigami and the chamfer at the incision induced by laser cutting both dominate the out‐of‐plane deformation through in‐plane stretching. The bioinspired PhC‐PDMS kirigami shows precisely programmable structural color and keeps the color very well after recycling over 10 000 times. This bioinspired PhC‐PDMS kirigami also shows excellent viewability even in bright sunlight, high readability, robust functionality, technical flexibility, and mechanical durability, which are readily exploitable for applications, such as chromic mechanical monitors for the sports industry or for medical applications, wearable camouflage, and security systems.
Innovative multiplexing technologies based on nano‐optics for anti‐counterfeiting have been proposed as overt and covert technologies to secure products and make them difficult to counterfeit. However, most of these nano‐optical anti‐counterfeiting materials are metasurfaces and metamaterials with complex and expensive fabrication process, often resulting in materials that are not damage tolerant. Highly efficient anti‐counterfeiting technologies with easy fabrication process are targeted for intuitive and effective authentication of banknotes, secure documents, and goods packing. Here, a simple strategy exploiting self‐assembling and nanoimprinting technique to fabricate a composite lattice photonic crystal architecture featuring full spatial control of light, multiplexed full‐pixel imaging, and multichannel cryptography combined with customized algorithms is reported. In particular, the real‐time encryption/recognition of mobile quick response codes and anti‐counterfeiting labels on a postage stamp, encoded by the proposed photonic architecture, are both demonstrated. The wave optics of scattering, diffraction, and polarization process involved are also described, validated with numerical simulations and experiments. By introducing a new degree of freedom in the 3D space, the multichannel image switching exhibits unprecedented variability of encryption, providing a promising roadmap to achieve larger information capacity, better security, and higher definition for the benefit of modern anti‐counterfeiting security.
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