Nanostructured photonic materials

Abstract

Disclosed herein are nanostructured photonic materials, methods of making and methods of use thereof, and systems including the nanostructured photonic materials. The nanostructured photonic materials comprise a substrate having a first surface; an array comprising a plurality of spaced-apart plasmonic particles disposed on the first surface of the substrate; and a waveguide layer disposed on the array and the first surface, wherein the waveguide layer: is optically coupled to the array, comprises a photochrome dispersed within a matrix material, and has an average thickness defining a hybrid plasmon waveguide mode; wherein the photochrome exhibits a first optical state and a second optical state; and wherein the second optical state of the photochrome at least partially overlaps with the hybrid plasmon waveguide mode.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.