Abstract
A three-dimensional goniometric study of thin-film polymer photonic crystals investigates how the chromaticity of structural color is correlated to structural ordering. Characterization of chromaticity and the angular properties of structural color are presented in terms of CIE 1931 color spaces. We examine the viewing angle dependency of the Bragg scattering cone relative to sample symmetry planes, and our results demonstrate how increased ordering influences angular scattering width and anisotropy. Understanding how the properties of structural color can be quantified and manipulated has significant implications for the manufacture of functional photonic crystals in sensors, smart fabrics, coatings, and other optical device applications.
Tong An
PhD
Qibin Zhao
Associate Professor
My research focuses on soft functional materials in which mesoscale structure controls optical and physical properties. I have worked extensively on colloidal and particle-assembled photonic materials, developing scalable processing methods to organize soft particulate systems into structurally coloured films and coatings. A central theme of my work is how external mechanical fields, such as shear, bending, stretching, and cyclic deformation, can drive microstructural ordering, lattice transitions, and structure-dependent optical responses. More broadly, I am interested in programmable soft photonic materials and functional coatings, where colloidal assembly, deformation processing, and soft-matter physics can be used to create adaptive optical, thermal, sensing, or mechanically encoded material functions.